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roam the island and are considered to impart destructive impacts 

 to dune and maritime forest vegetation thereby accelerating the 

 encroachment of sand upon the forest. Further studies are planned 

 before final decisions to remove the livestock are announced. 

 Solid wastes litter the island and in some cases are hazardous 

 to visitors. 



Protection Status: Under NFS administration, all of Shackleford is 



proposed as a "natural zone" and will be recommended and protected 

 as a wilderness with minimal visitor facilities. 



Reasons for Significance: Shackleford Bank is a remote island in the 

 Outer Banks chain which, unlike other barrier islands, has been 

 relatively undisturbed by people during the last 7 years. The 

 Bank is approximately 9 miles long varying in width up to one 

 half mile. Its east-west orientation situates it perpendicular 

 to the prevailing winds thereby resulting in unique physiographic 

 characteristics which provide an interesting contrast to the 

 other barrier islands of the Outer Banks. 



The eastern two thirds of the island resembles the barrier islands 

 to the north: low dunes near the ocean, grasslands, low shrub 

 trees and an extensive salt marsh. Scattered throughout this 

 portion of the Bank, occasional "ghost trees" and stumps mark 

 the former existence of a once extensive maritime forest. The 

 area is now an over-wash formed during severe storms and now 

 claimed by sea oats and other salt tolerant dune grasses. In 

 contrast, the western end of Shackleford features dunes 30-40 

 feet high formed by prevailing on-shore winds. The high dunes 

 provide an effective barrier from wind and salt spray for the 

 sound side vegetation. As a result, an extensive and well developed 

 maritime forest still remains. This beautifully formed, remnant 

 forest is one of the last undisturbed examples of this type of 

 ecosystem. It is composed primarily of Eastern red cedar, live 

 oak, American holly, and Loblolly pine. Another notable feature 

 is the presence of permanent, fresh water ponds such as Mullet 

 Pond which supports the unique Marsh killifish (Fundulus 

 conf luentus ) . "Marshes are distributed between thickets or on 

 the sound side of the forest. Also, wherever the ground surface 

 approaches the water table inside the forest, wet thickets or 

 or fresh marsh is formed. As a result, maritime forest, 

 thickets and marshes compose an intricate vegetation pattern," 

 (Au, 1974). Associated with the marshes are vast, lush grasslands 

 which extend into the sound in some places. Here ungulates, 

 mostly feral horses, can be seen grazing; the Shackleford horses 

 compose one of the last free ranging herd of any consequent size 

 in the East. Furthermore, Shackleford serves as a nesting ground 

 for the Atlantic Loggerhead Sea Turtle, an endangered species. 

 It also supports many plants of special status such as Drummond's 

 Prickly Peat (see Table 10), which can be found between the 

 dunes. In short, Shackleford exhibits a much greater plant and 

 animal diversity than any other of the Cape Lookout National 

 Seashore islands due to the physiographic features of land- 

 wind orientation and the presence of the 85 maritime forest. 



