A survey of the vegetation and fuels of Buxton Woods, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina

Davison, Kathryn; Bratton, Susan

Buxton Woods was dominated by loblolly pine (Pinus taada). The most common hardwood was laurel oak (Quercur laurifolia). The woods were described by nine forest types, five of which were dominated by pine. The pine types included pine plantation, dating from plantings in the 1930's and 1960's; mature pine; pineflive oak, pinelironwood; and a swamp type with pine as dominant. Hardwood types included evergreen forest border dominated by red bay and live oak, deciduous forest dominated by ironwood and dogwood; and mixed mature hardwood forest dominated by laurel oak. The edge of the forest was generally classified as live oak scrub. Unforested and savannah cover types included marshes and ponds, shrub savannah, shrub thickets dominated by bayberry, maritime pine forest, dune grasslands and bare sand. Five fire fuel models were identified: 0, D, R, N, and A. In general the fuels for types N and 0 tend to be somewhat lower than for similar areas on the mainland and tend to be disontinuous. Type R, applied to hardwood forests, will only bum under very dry conditions and under most circumstances will inhibit fire spread. Fire is most likely to spread in mature pine and in sawgrass wetlands. Mature pine had 80% greater surface fuel weights than hardwood forest and 114% greater weights than live oak scrub. Succession in Buxton Woods will probably favor hardwoods. Management for hardwoods will eventually reduce surface fuel loadings and decrease the chances for a major fire in the woods.