28 Mary K. Clark, David S. Lee, John B. Funderburg, Jr. 



In North Carolina, only a few species are so geographically re- 

 stricted that they would not be expected wherever pocosin habitats exist. 

 Two North Carolina mammals, Microtus pennsylvanicus and Synap- 

 tomys cooperi, are limited to the northeast section of the state. All oth- 

 ers, except Sciurus niger, Castor canadensis and to a lesser extent Ursus 

 americanus, appear to be more or less uniformly distributed throughout 

 the Coastal Plain. The Fox Squirrel is absent from pocosin areas in the 

 northeastern counties, probably because of a lack of adjacent sand rims, 

 open canopy pine forests, and mast-producing oaks. Through restock- 

 ing, the beaver is now widely, but not uniformly, established in the 

 Coastal Plain. Bears have been locally extirpated from the Sandhills 

 area. 



Most of the mammals discussed here are opportunistic species that 

 exploit early and intermediate successional stages of many types of plant 

 communities. Several (Sciurus niger, Glaucomys volans, Microtus 

 pinetorum and the aquatic mammals) are associated only with pe- 

 ripheral communities of bays (sand rims) or aquatic systems and not with 

 pocosin vegetation per se. Most species appear to exist normally in low 

 densities within true pocosins and become common only in disturbed 

 areas or ones with temporary vegetative shifts caused by fire or storms. 



Sequence of Succession 



We interpret the sequence of successional changes of the plant/ - 

 mammal communities in the stages shown below (mammals listed in 

 approximate order of abundance). It should be emphasized that these 

 lists of characteristic mammals do not represent total faunal lists as 

 presented in Table 1, but indicate only species regularly found in each 

 major community type. The sand rim associates of Carolina bays, as 

 well as those of other community types, are listed in Table 1. 



Early Stages. — Sedge/ grass /rush communities (canopy and shrubs 

 removed by fire or man) and savannas. 



Characteristic: Oryzomys palustris, Sigmodon hispidus, Microtus 

 pennsylvanicus, Cryptotis parva, Reithrodontomys humulis, Syl- 

 vilagus palustris. 

 Occasional: Peromyscus leucopus, Mus musculus, Blarina sp. 



Intermediate Stages. — Pine-shrub bogs. 



Characteristic: Peromyscus gossypinus, Pipistrellus subflavus, Syl- 



vilagus palustris, Odocoileus virginianus, Ursus americanus. 

 Occasional: Sylvilagus floridanus. 



— White cedar forests (mature dense forest). 

 Characteristic: Blarina brevicauda. 

 Occasional: Sciurus carolinensis. 



