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Home My WebLink About20080868 Ver 2_Mitigation Info_20081114North Carolina Natural Heritage Program Community Scorecard NumRank SignSite Site or location Cnd SizeLndC Last Obs NONRIVERINE WET HARDWOOD FOREST (OAK FLAT SUBTYPE) 33 A A Northern Middle C A Roquist POeosin 3 A A Pamlimarle Penins A Scranton Hardwood Forest 25 AB A Northern Middle C A Bethel/Grindle Hardwood Flats 35 B A Middle Outer Coas A Bonnerton Road Wet Hardwood Forest and Seeps 1 B B Middle Outer Coas B Gum Swamp Bottomland Hardwood Forest 37 B B Middle Outer Coas B Sparrow Road Wet Hardwood Forest 6 B? B Middle Outer Coas B South Prong Natural Area 19 B? B Northern Embayed B Indiantown Creek/North River Cypress Forest 18 B? B? Northern Embayed B Buckskin Creek/Great Swamp 23 BC C Northern Embayed C Big Flatty Creek Forests and Marshes 4 BC C Pamlimarle Penins B Gull Rock Game Land 5 C C Middle Outer Coas C Light Ground Pocosin Southeast Section 9 C C Middle Outer Coas B Sea Gate Woods 36 C C Middle Outer Coas C Drinkwater Creek Wet Hardwood Forest 12 C C Northern Embayed C Whitehall Shores Hardwood Forest 14 C C Northern Embayed A Gibbs Woods/Tull Bay Marshes 16 C C Northern Embayed A Troublesome Point/Gibbs Point Forests and Marshe 17 C C Northern Embayed C Lower Tull Creek Woods and Marsh 24 C C Northern Embayed C Little Flatty Creek Forests and Marsh 27 C C Northern Middle C C Belvoir Carolina Bays and Flats 26 C C Pamlimarle Penins C Jackson Swamp Remnants 30 C C Pamlimarle Penins B East Dismal Swamp 32 C C Pamlimarle Penins B Palmetto-Peartree Swamp Forest 34 C C Pamlimarle Penins B Alligator River/South Lake Swamp Forest 28 CD D Northern Embayed A Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and 15 D? D Northern Embayed A Troublesome Point/Gibbs Point Forests and Marshe 7 X X Middle Outer Coas NONRIVERINE WET HARDWOOD FOREST (OAK--GUM SLOUGH SUBTYPE) 33 A A Northern Middle C A Roquist Pocosin 31 B Northern Embayed B Indiantown Creek/North River Cypress Forest 35 B A/B Middle Outer Coas A Bonnerton Road Wet Hardwood Forest and Seeps 32 C ? Pamlimarle Penins B Palmetto-Peartree Swamp Forest 14 C C? Northern Embayed A Gibbs Woods/Tull Bay Marshes 7 X X Middle Outer Coas SWAMP ISLAND EVERGREEN FOREST 29 C? Southern Outer Co B Friar Swamp 11/14/2008 County A 500 B 2006-07-22 NCBERT A 3580 B 2007 NCHYDE A 216 B 2006 NCPITT A 198 C 2007-11-29 NCBEAU A 40 A 1998 NCCRAV A 40 C 2005-01-26 NCBEAU B 60 B 2006 NCPAML A 30 A 2006-07-17 NCCURR B 73 B 2006 NCCURR 50 B 2006 NCPASQ 20 1998-05-05 NCHYDE A 55 B 1997-11 NCPAML C 85 2007-07-20 NCCART C 130 C 2005-04-15 NCBEAU C 30 C 2006 NCCAMD 135 1998 NCCURR C 10 B 2006-07-15 NCCURR 30 1997-02-05 NCCURR B 40 C 2006 NCPASQ C 30 C 2006 NCPITT C 20 C 2004 NCBEAU C 125 B 2006 NCWASH 15 1998-04-08 NCTYRR 9 2002-10-03 NCDARE B 5 A 1997-11 NCGATE D 10 2006 NCCURR 900 1998-05-04 NCPAML A 500 B 2006-07-22 NCBERT A 5 A 2006-07-17 NCCURR A 198 C 2007-11-29 NCBEAU 15 1998-04-08 NCTYRR 135 1998 NCCURR 900 1998-05-04 NCPAML 75 1994-04-28 NCCOLU Bonnerton Road Wet Hardwood Forest and Seep Significant Natural Heritage Area Site Significance: State Size: 238.86 acres primary, 32.80 secondary Quadrangles: Aurora Ownership: PCS SIGNIFICANT FEATURES: One of the largest mature examples of Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Forest remaining anyway give this site National significance. Unusual seepage wetlands on the face of the Suffolk Scarp add additional interest to the site. LANDSCAPE RELATIONSHIPS: The Bonnerton Road site is set on the edge of a rural landscape of woodlands, agricultural fields, and scattered houses. The existing PCS mine lies immediately to the east. Durham Creek, an estuarine creek, lies within one mile to the west and north. The nearest natural areas are about five miles away. SITE DESCRIPTION: The Bonnerton Road Wet Hardwood Forest and Seep site occupies a segment of the Suffolk Scarp and the adjacent wet flats at its base. The flats have mineral soils with shallow standing water through much of the growing season, along with a narrow slough that is wetter. The flats, most of the site, support a Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Forest community. The forest is dominated by a characteristic mix of laurel oak (Quercus laurifolia), swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michauxii), and willow oak (Quercus phellos), with varying amounts of water oak (Quercus nigra), tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), red maple (Acer rubrum), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), and other species. The understory is dominated by ironwood (Carpinus caroliniana) and the same species that make up the canopy. Wetter portions are dominated by swamp black gum (Nyssa biflora), laurel oak, water oak, and sweetgum. Most of the forest is mature, with a number of large trees present. A few patches are younger but have similar composition. Evidence of past logging is present but the forest retains much of its natural structure and composition. The Suffolk Scarp in this site is a moderate slope of sandy soil with a muck surface. An unusual seepage community, tentatively classified as a Low Elevation Seep, occurs on the slope. It is an open woodland with a canopy of water oak, red maple, and abundant loblolly bay (Gordonia lasianthus). Some swamp black gum and Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) are also present. This combination of trees is not typical of any known community type. There is a dense shrub layer dominated by horse sugar (Symplocos tinctoria) and sweet gallberry (Ilex coriacea), with abundant greenbrier (Smilax laurifolia). It is unclear how altered this community is, but its unusual character makes it of ecological interest. MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION: The site has no protection status beyond regulatory protection given to jurisdictional wetlands. It is owned by PCS and there is potential for mining in at least the eastern part. NATURAL COMMUNITIES: Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Forest, Low Elevation Seep REFERENCES: Schafale, M.P., et al. 2005. Bonnerton Road Wet Hardwood Forest and Seep. Site Survey Report, Natural Heritage Program. Schafale, M.P. 2007. Bonnerton Road Wetlands. Supplemental Note.