White Cedar Swamp

Description

Streamhead Pocosin includes forests and woodlands with an evergreen shrub stratum and canopy dominated by Pond Pine (Pinus serotina). Other similar forested wetlands may be dominated by Atlantic White Cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), and/or hardwoods such as Sweet Bay (Magnolia virginiana), Swamp Black Gum (Nyssa biflora), and Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera). These are treated in the Sandhill Streamhead Pocosin and Swamp Environmental Site Description document. Sandhill Seep is usually just upslope from the Sandhill Streamhead Pocosin and Swamp, and the environmental site is only slightly different, The ecological dynamics of the Streamhead Pocosin is influenced by the amount and duration of saturation or flooding and the frequency and intensity of wildland fire. These areas are generally upstream from well developed floodplains, and are more influenced by seepage fed saturation, than by flooding for stream channel overflow. These seepage habitats support many evergreen shrubs which can burn in medium to high intensity wildland fires. The leaves of these shrubs contain volatile oils which provide substantial fuel to fires which may approach this riparian habiat from adjacent uplands at medium intensity. The varied frequency and intensity of wildland fire contributes to a mosaic of different vegetation with in this ecological site.

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