Habitats of North Carolina

Peatland Forests and Shrublands
Coastal Plain Herbaceous Peatlands

General Description

The Coastal Plain of North Carolina contains an abundance of peatland habitats, associated with the flat, water-rich terrain in general and with Carolina Bays and other depressions in particular. In all these cases, these habitats are characterized with constantly saturated, highly acidic, nutrient poor, and often anoxic soils. Such sites typically have mats of sphagnum mosses, which along with other vegetation, do not decompose in these environments and form instead deep deposits of peat.

Most such sites in the North Carolina Coastal Plain support pocosin shrubs or peatland trees such as Pond Pines, Atlantic White Cedars, or hardwood Bays. The herbaceous peatlands treated here, however, lack a canopy. Some are associated with particularly deep deposits of peat -- located in the centers of large peat domes -- where trees cannot establish. More commonly, they occur as narrow ecotones located between peatlands dominated by woody species and fire-maintained savannas, flatwoods, and sandridges. In these cases, it is the frequency of fires spilling over from the adjoining habitats that keeps the habitats open.

Consequently, the Defining Species must be adapted not only to the peatland soils but also a high frequency of burns. Plant species in these habitats normally survive as well-protected underground rhizomes or seeds in the seed bank. Animals such as the Sundew Cutworm Moth probably do not survive through a fire in place but instead rely on recolonization from unburned patches of their habitat to maintain their presence within the area.

Abiotic Factors

Biotic Structure

Co-evolved Species Groups

Phagic and Competitory Symbioses:
Drosera species+Cranberry // Hemipachnobia monochromatea

Determining Species

sciName	comName	g_rank	s_rank	mod_s_rank	prob_of_extirpation
FORBS
Hexastylis sorriei	Sandhills Heartleaf	G3	S1S2	S1S2	0.11107
Lilium pyrophilum	Sandhills Bog Lily	G2	S2	S2	0.03699
Sarracenia minor	Hooded Pitcher Plant	G4	S2	S2	0.03699
Lycopus cokeri	Coker's Bugleweed	G3	S3	S3	0.00407
Lysimachia asperulifolia	Rough-leaf Loosestrife	G3	S3	S3	0.00407
Pleea tenuifolia	Rush False-asphodel	G4	S3	S3	0.00407
Sarracenia rubra	Sweet Pitcher Plant	G4	S3	S3	0.00407
Xyris chapmanii	Chapman's Yellow-eyed-grass	G3	S3	S3	0.00407
Tofieldia glabra	Carolina Asphodel	G4	S4	S4	0.00041
GRAMINOIDS
Carex exilis	Coastal Sedge	G5	S2	S2	0.03699
Rhynchospora macra	Southern White Beaksedge	G3G4	S2	S2	0.03699
Carex elliottii	Elliott's Sedge	G4	S3	S3	0.00407
Carex turgescens	Pinebarren Sedge	G4G5	S3	S3	0.00407
Rhynchospora leptocarpa	a beaksedge	G3	S3	S3	0.00407
Rhynchospora pallida	Pale Beaksedge	G4	S3	S3	0.00407
Rhynchospora stenophylla	Littleleaf Beaksedge	G4	S3	S3	0.00407
Ctenium aromaticum	Toothache Grass	G5	S4	S4	0.00041
MOTHS
Hemipachnobia monochromatea	Sundew Cutworm Moth	G4	S1	S1	0.33330
ORTHOPTERANS
Tettigidea prorsa	Cone-headed Grouse Locust	GNR	SH	SH
Nr = Number of Ranked Species = 19
Ner = Number of Extant, Ranked Species = 18
Nv = Number of Historic and Extirpated Species = 1
Nar = Number of Species at Risk of Extirpation (State rank > S5) = 18
Nss = Number of Secure Species (State Rank = S5) = 0
Pss = Proportion of Secure Species (Nss/Ner) = 0.00000
ENE = Expected Number of Extirpations (Sum of PE) = 0.63385
Average PE (ENE/Ner) = 0.03521
Habitat Risk Index = (Nar+Nv) x Average PE = 19 x 0.03521 = 0.66899

Estimated Risk to the Determining Species

Estimated Risk to the Co-evolved Species Groups

Estimated Security of the Habitat

Index of Habitat Imperilment

Identified Risks

Observed Trends

Distribution Map

Distribution

Major Conservation Reserves

Priority Areas for Surveys and Conservation Protection

Stewardship and Management Recommendations

References

Updated on

2022-01-01 00:35:58