Carolina Environmental Diversity Explorations
Small sand volume barrier islands · By Dirk Frankenberg
Marshes of Masonboro
Figure 6. This salt marsh is thriving. (Photograph by the author. More about the photograph)
Figure 6 shows that most of the marshes on the landward side of Masonboro are doing quite well. They are lush and healthy and extend more than a mile landward of the berm.
Note that in this location there are a few patches of maritime shrub plants. These suggest that the back side of Masonboro is beginning to be stabilized by plants. Were it not a part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve, we might worry that this small sign of stabilization would encourage someone to visualize a golf course community taking shape here.
