In addition to
supporting a great
diversity of plants,
Carolina Bays and
pocosin thickets
are very important
to wildlife including
the black bear,
bobcat and wild
turkey, along with
many kinds of
songbirds and a
great diversity of
amphibians and
reptiles. All of these
species seek and
use this habitat for
shelter, water, food
and space for them-selves
and their
offspring. Top left: Longleaf pine habitat regenerates after a burn. Top right: The thicket edge at Lake Waccamaw
is fringed with loblolly bay (Gordonia), red bay and various evergreen shrubs woven together by
greenbrier (Smilax) vines. Above: A grove of decades-old Cyrilla trees show signs of buttressing, or their
bases widening, which indicates very wet soil. The moss on the tree bases roughly indicates the high
waterline during wet periods.
48
WBM march 2013
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALLISON POTTER
