HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 05-08-2007-4
Inventory of Significant Natural Areas and Wildlife Habitats Morgan Creek Watershed
Orange County, NC
Orange County Natural Areas Inventory
JORDAN LAKE MACROSITE
' New Site 2004
Site Number: Macrosite #4 Size: 983 acres in Orange County
[7,963 acres in Durham & Chatham counties]
Site Significance: State USGS Quads: Chapel Hill, Farrington
The Jardan Lake Macrosite sprawls over portions of three counties. Aside from the obvious
recreational benefits of the lake, the area features a diversity of plants, animals, and natural
communities that is unmatched in the northeastern piedmont of North Cazolina. This is
especially true along the streams entering from the north and northwest, such as Morgan
Creek and New Hope Creek.
In the Orange County portion of the macrosite, Morgan Creek flows through a deep rocky
gorge past several bluffs supporting Catawba rhododendrons (Rhododendron catawbiense),
here disjunct from the mountains, and spills out into a broad floodplain replete with
magnificent bottomland and swamp forests. The geological transition from the broken
topography of the Carolina Slate Belt to the smoother contours of the Triassic Basin is sharp;
many plants and animals that occupy one do not occur in the other, thus creating an overall
diversity that is very high. Morgan Creek is a critical corridor for the movement of animals,
be they permanent residents, summer breeders, migrants, or winter residents. These
movements follow connections throughout the Triangle and beyond. Decades of
observations and reseazch along Morgan Creek and at the Mason Farm Biological Reserve
have yielded impressive numbers of carnivores (including bobcat), raptors, amphibians;
reptiles, and breeding neotropical birds.
The Jordan Lake Macrosite is of state significance. The Orange County portion includes five
standard sites, from Morgan Creek Bluffs (M08) down to the Morgan Creek Floodplain
Forest (M12). Additional standard sites are included within the Durham and Chatham county
portions. Among the many natural community types represented, most notable are the
extensive floodplain forests (three distinct kinds) which include some of the oldest trees in
the county and which support nesting Swainson's warblers (Limnothlypis swainsonii). The
state's best example of a Basic Oak-Hickory Forest occurs at Mason Farm (M10). Other
communities of note include vernal pools vital for amphibian breeding, rhododendron bluffs,
and cultivated fields which maybe 200 years old and which provide abundant edge and
clearing habitats.
Rare species documented from the Orange County portion of the macrosite include nesting
sharp-shinned hawks (Accipiter striatus), four-toed salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum),
sweet pinesap (Monotropsis odorata), and lazge witch-alder (Fothergilla major).
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