. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. NATURALIST'S NOTEBOOK. Drifting sand creates a 'ghost'forest effect within the maritime forest. While nearby Kitty Hawk Woods has limited public access, Barbara Blonder, Coastal Reserve northern sites manager, welcomes school groups and community organizations. Here is a chance to walk along the relics of dunes left by the Atlantic Ocean as it receded during the Pleistocene epoch, she says. One of the largest of the state's maritime forests, it contains examples of both maritime deciduous forest and mariti
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. NATURALIST'S NOTEBOOK. Drifting sand creates a 'ghost'forest effect within the maritime forest. While nearby Kitty Hawk Woods has limited public access, Barbara Blonder, Coastal Reserve northern sites manager, welcomes school groups and community organizations. Here is a chance to walk along the relics of dunes left by the Atlantic Ocean as it receded during the Pleistocene epoch, she says. One of the largest of the state's maritime forests, it contains examples of both maritime deciduous forest and maritime swamp forest environments. A community of evergreen and deciduous hardwoods dominate the upland ridges, while thick stands of bald cypress dominate the swamp forest. As a biologist, she is fascinated with how nature's processes work together. Where better to study such synergy than the rare and diverse habitats of Kitty Hawk Woods? Blonder hopes to expand its use as an educational resource and a low-impact research laboratory. Currently, a botanist from St. John's University is trying to determine the reason for the decline of the woods' dogwood trees. He also is studying the life history of the crane-fly orchid. Another scientist from Oak Ridge National Laboratory is conducting water quality studies to track how naturally occurring organic compounds move through organic soils. Blonder also oversees the maritime forest on Currituck Banks and co-manages Buxton Woods with Marcia Lyons, site biologist for the National Park Service. Lyons describes the Buxton Woods Reserve as a "magical" place where beauty and science intersect. Reserve habitat includes all the elements that define a maritime forest: maritime evergreen forest, maritime shrub swamp, sedges (inter-dune ponds), maritime shrub thicket and salt marsh environments. Its Jeannette Sedge, the largest of its fresh water ponds, is the source of water for all of Hatteras Island. Looking at the windswept beauty of
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