Backside Bay, McIntosh Bay Complex, NC
Backside Bay is the smallest of four bays collectively known in the research community as the McIntosh Bay Complex. Located ~10 kilometers northeast of Laurinburg, NC, distributed along US 401 near the intersection with McIntosh Road. I assume its name was derived from it being on the eastern "backside" of Rabbit Run (401) Bay.
The bay conforms well to the bayCarolina archetype shape, and is oriented at 145.59º, as are the other 3 named bays in the complex. It actually has a similar-sized neighbor directly to its north, but drainage channels and farming activity has obliterated that landform's role as a Carolina Bay habitat worthy of research.
Harry E. LeGrand, Jr. of the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, executed An Inventory Of The Significant Natural Areas Of Scotland County, North Carolina. He offered this description of Rabbit Run Bay:
The bay conforms well to the bayCarolina archetype shape, and is oriented at 145.59º, as are the other 3 named bays in the complex. It actually has a similar-sized neighbor directly to its north, but drainage channels and farming activity has obliterated that landform's role as a Carolina Bay habitat worthy of research.
Harry E. LeGrand, Jr. of the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, executed An Inventory Of The Significant Natural Areas Of Scotland County, North Carolina. He offered this description of Rabbit Run Bay:
Backside Bay is the smallest bay of the four, lying just east of 401 Bay. It is mainly dry and contains “weedy” native trees such as loblolly pine, sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), red maple (Acer rubrum), and water oak (Quercus nigra).
The Nature Conservancy owns and protects nearly 235 acres of the site, of which 128 acres are a Dedicated State Nature Preserve. Their ownership includes … nearly all of Backside Bay… TNC has planted seedling longleaf pines in former fields surrounding Backside Bay in order to restore the former sandhills community present there.
Harry E. LeGrand, Jr.
LeGrand's inventory included the following entities found in the bay complex:
NATURAL COMMUNITIES: Cypress Savanna (Typic and Depression Meadow variants)
RARE PLANTS: Florida goober grass (Amphicarpum muehlenbergianum), small-headed marsh elder (Iva microcephala), Boykin’s lobelia (Lobelia boykinii), shrubby seedbox (Ludwigia suffruticosa), Canby’s dropwort (Oxypolis canbyi), southeastern panic grass (Panicum tenerum), mudbank crown grass (Paspalum dissectum), awned meadow-beauty (Rhexia aristosa), Tracy’s beaksedge (Rhynchospora tracyi), quillwort arrowhead (Sagittaria isoetiformis), netted nutrush (Scleria reticularis)_
RARE ANIMALS: Mabee’s salamander (Ambystoma mabeei), eastern tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum), chicken turtle (Deirochelys reticularia), dwarf salamander - silver morph (Eurycea quadridigitata pop 1), ornate chorus frog (Pseudacris ornata), Carolina gopher frog (Rana capito), King’s hairstreak (Satyrium kingi)_
The Carolina Bay Survey has identified and measured 600 bays in Octant 139317. Their location and metrics can be referenced through a Fusion Table spatial visualization.
NATURAL COMMUNITIES: Cypress Savanna (Typic and Depression Meadow variants)
RARE PLANTS: Florida goober grass (Amphicarpum muehlenbergianum), small-headed marsh elder (Iva microcephala), Boykin’s lobelia (Lobelia boykinii), shrubby seedbox (Ludwigia suffruticosa), Canby’s dropwort (Oxypolis canbyi), southeastern panic grass (Panicum tenerum), mudbank crown grass (Paspalum dissectum), awned meadow-beauty (Rhexia aristosa), Tracy’s beaksedge (Rhynchospora tracyi), quillwort arrowhead (Sagittaria isoetiformis), netted nutrush (Scleria reticularis)_
RARE ANIMALS: Mabee’s salamander (Ambystoma mabeei), eastern tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum), chicken turtle (Deirochelys reticularia), dwarf salamander - silver morph (Eurycea quadridigitata pop 1), ornate chorus frog (Pseudacris ornata), Carolina gopher frog (Rana capito), King’s hairstreak (Satyrium kingi)_
The Carolina Bay Survey has identified and measured 600 bays in Octant 139317. Their location and metrics can be referenced through a Fusion Table spatial visualization.
- Index #: 139317_3359
- Location: 34.83416946498782,-79.39898687992124
- Major: 0.39 km . . . Minor: 0.31 km
- Eccentricity: 0.599
- Area: 9.81 hectares
- Bearing: 145.59º
- Elevation: 69.17 m
- Archetype: bay
- Effective Diameter: 353.418 m
Copyright 2018 by Michael Davias