Abstract
Lovely, Dark, and Deep: Forests Behind the Tide
Highlights
Fifteen miles south of Charleston, South Carolina, lie the almost impenetrable thickets of a maritime forest
The maritime forest is the spine of Kiawah Island, according to Shauneen Hutchinson of the Kiawah Conservancy, “strong and stately, securing the land when wind and water pummel the place.”
As coastal ecologists define it, a maritime forest is a tangle of plants that grows cheek by jowl with the sea
Summary
Fifteen miles south of Charleston, South Carolina, lie the almost impenetrable thickets of a maritime forest. On a 32-square kilometer barrier island named Kiawah, shrubby wax myrtle, characteristic of South Carolina’s maritime forests, is everywhere. As coastal ecologists define it, a maritime forest is a tangle of plants that grows cheek by jowl with the sea. Maritime forests are shaped by salt spray from the sea, the climate of the immediate coast, and extreme disturbance events such as hurricanes and other severe storms.
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