01/30/2009
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Accreted Land Management Plan
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2253 [30 JANUARY 2009]
Town of Sullivan’s Island, SC
Vegetative Controls
The temperate climate of South Carolina, sandy sediments that dominate the AL study area,
and the relatively harsh effects of salt spray all limit the types of plants that can grow in this
setting. However, given its scale, the AL is wide enough to allow a range of distinct habitats
to thrive. More salt-tolerant vegetation occupies the seaward edges and serves as a shelter
to more diverse freshwater species along interior sections of the AL area.
As the present report describes in detail in Section 3, some portions of the AL area are low
swales that support freshwater wetland species. Fine-grained sediments have accumulated
and serve to retain fresh water. An associated consequence is an increase in mosquitos com-
pared with barrier islands lacking comparable accreted land seaward of development.
An underlying vegetation control is time. There is a natural progression of plants in this setting
once land has accreted. Progressing from grasses to shrubs and ultimately to mature maritime
forest requires about one century. Therefore, the youngest portions of the AL are not expected
to have mature trees today, but there is a likelihood some of these areas will support a diverse
forest decades from now. This inexorable process provides opportunities for as well as con-
straints on the ALMP.
An additional consideration relevant to the ALMP is the presence of invasive species which,
if left unchecked, may become the dominant plant type in some areas. Such species include
Chinese tallow (Sapium sebiferum), cattails (Typha spp), Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense),
autumn olive (Eleagnus umbellata), Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), and wisteria
(Wisteria sp). The control of invasive vegetation can be accomplished by utilizing biological
control agents (insects and pathogens), herbicides, mechanical manipulation, or combinations
of these methods (Jubinsky 2002).
1.5 Alternative Management Measures
There is a spectrum of management measures possible for the accreted land, ranging from
doing nothing to large-scale manipulation of topography and vegetative cover. The Town
recognizes that a conservation management plan may be directed toward a range of objectives
and that the final plan will depend on which objectives are emphasized (Town of Sullivan’s
Island 2007, pg 3). The Team prepared this document (ALMP) according to the scope of ser-
vices with the intent of: