Zeke's Island - North Carolina

Flora (Plant Life)

Dunes dominated by sea oats occur from the upper beach drift line back to the secondary dunes where they mix with other grasses (e.g. saltmeadow cordgrass, panic grass) and forbs (e.g. seaside goldenrod, spurge, gaillardia, sand primrose) to form a stable grassland. Shrub thicket and maritime forest consisting of live oak, loblolly pine, wax myrtle, yaupon and red cedar occur where salt spray and sea water flooding do not prohibit woody plant growth. The site's extensive salt marshes are dominated by a mixture of saltmarsh cordgrass, salt grass, black needlerush, sea ox-eye, glasswort and sea lavender.

Fauna (Animal Life)

Fishes, shrimp, crabs, clams and oysters use the estuary as a nursery ground. Atlantic loggerhead sea turtles occasionally nest on the site's ocean beach. The expanse of intertidal flats in the Zeke's Island area is one of the most important shorebird habitats in southeastern North Carolina. Species sighted include: dunlins, black-bellied plovers, short-billed dowitchers, white ibises, great blue herons, snowy egrets, Louisiana herons, black ducks mallards and pintails. Mammals observed include opossums, grey foxes, marsh rabbits and cotton rats.

Endangered Species

Seabeach Amaranth, a species with federal threatened status, occurs on upper beaches and foredunes of the Zeke's Island component of the reserve. Atlantic loggerhead turtles (federal threatened status) occasionally nest on the site's ocean beach. Other threatened or endangered fauna reported at the site include bald eagles and piping plovers.

Zeke's Island

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