Natural History
The Blackwater River is, as its name implies, a blackwater river — its waters are clear, dark, acidic, low in nutrients, and tannin stained. Several environmental factors cause the blackwater condition. The many forested wetlands along the river include Streamhead Pocosins and Bald Cypress and Tupelo Swamps.
The Blackwater is known for its pocosins, including the rare type called streamhead pocosin. The only two streamhead pocosins known in Virginia are on the Blackwater River.
Bald Cypress and Tupelo Swamps occur along many streams of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Most were logged, thus old-growth examples are rare. The Blackwater River Preserve protects one of the oldest bald cypress and tupelo swamp forests in the South, with trees up to 800 years old. The largest known water tupelo in the United States, according to the National Register of Big Trees, is in Isle of Wight County. It stands 95 feet (29 m) tall with a circumference of 406 inches (10.3 m). Another stand of old-growth bald cypress and tupelo forest, known as Dendron Swamp, was recently designated a Natural Area Preserve by the Virginia Department of Conservation of Recreation.
Another rare type of forest found along the Blackwater River is a type called Longleaf Pine and Mixed Pine Flatwoods. The forests were once common but today are restricted to a few small sites on the east side of the Blackwater River. Near the town of Zuni, Virginia, one stand is protected by the Blackwater Ecological Preserve.
The many old forests and wetlands along the Blackwater River have made it popular for recreational canoeing.
Read more about this topic: Blackwater River (Virginia)
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