| Back Swamps are large, poorly
drained oval-shaped depressions located behind levees. They may be flooded
more than half the year. These low flatlands are underlain by shallow
organic or mixed mineral-organic soil and are at or slightly above sea
level. Water tupelo, bald cypress, black tupelo, and Carolina ash dominate
back swamps.You'll find this habitat downstream from Williamston in the
lower floodplain.
As you near the sound, such swamp forests
often occupy the entire floodplain surface between large bends of the river
channel. They are the bayous of eastern North Carolina. |
