Habitats
Bay Forest/Swamp
Bay forests are pocosin ecosystems that are not quite as nutrient poor as
high and low pocosins. Most often they occur in shallow organic
deposits along drainages.
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Longleaf Pine Ecosystems
Due to extensive burning fire-dependant longleaf pine ecosystems once covered about 72-92 million acres of the landscape. But for settlement and agriculture these ecosystems were cleared. Over-exploitation and fire suppression further decreased them in number.
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Pocosins
Pocosins can be best described as being restricted to the Southeast, occurring
in broad, shallow basins, in drainage basin heads, and on broad, flat
uplands. They often occur within Carolina Bays. Low pocosins are
associated with poorly drained areas with a deep peat layer (3 – 16
ft). High pocosin exist on the intermediate parts of domed peatlands
and have a peat layer less than 5 ft deep.
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Ponds
These areas make up the largest amount of year-long standing water. The
beaver pond is full of aquatic vegetation, dead trees, and snags that
provide good habitat for waterfowl, reptiles, amphibians, and some
fishes.
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Sinkholes
The sinkholes on the SWA 1187 consist mostly of tupelo and pondcypress with
some aquatic vegetation growing in the more open areas. Though small,
these areas may provide some habitat for waterfowl and may be critical
for populations of crayfish, reptiles, and amphibians.
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Turpentine trees
By the 1700s, coastal pinelands became major producers of naval stores,
products derived from the pitch of southern yellow pines. Turpentine
was produced by distilling the pitch or “gum” from living pine trees.
The turpentine industry moved out of South Carolina in the 1940s. A few
lightwood stumps are still harvested to extract various chemicals.
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Carolina Bays
They are classified as shallow depressions in the sandy soil of the coastal
plain, isolated wetlands that are mostly fed by rain or shallow
groundwater, and set apart by there many unique characteristics. Since
early settlement, Carolina Bays have been under constant destruction.
Most of the bays were stripped of timber resources and drained for
agriculture, development, and road construction. Researchers believe
that more than 97% of Carolina Bays have been destroyed or severely
altered.
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Page maintained by: Candace Cummings, ccmmngs@clemson.edu