Portrait of an Island

by TEAL MILDRED

• ISBN13: 9780820319612
• ISBN10: 0820319619
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Georgia Pr

Summary

When Mildred and John Teal moved to Sapelo Island, Georgia, in 1955, they stepped back in time to a virtually undeveloped landscape of salt marsh, maritime forest, freshwater ponds, sand dunes, and beaches. Over the course of a four-year stay their careful observations of the island's unique marine ecology and wonderfully varied flora and fauna became the basis forPortrait of an Island. The island's human history dates back more than four thousand years. The lure of Sapelo has drawn many to its shores, including tobacco millionaire R. J. Reynolds, who established the University of Georgia Marine Institute there in the 1950s. Surrounded by sixteen thousand acres of pristine marsh, Sapelo offers researchers and the public a rare opportunity for environmental studies. Now a state game refuge and national estuarine sanctuary, the island remains a special haven where humans and nature quietly and peacefully coexist.Portrait of an Islandis essential reading for anyone who treasures tranquility.

Author Biography

Mildred Teal and John Teal are the authors of Diary of a Salt Marsh and other books. Mildred Teal works at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Falmouth, Massachusetts. John Teal is a scientist emeritus at the institute and an environmental consultant.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION	3	(6)
PART I SAPELO	9	(20)
Sapelo Almanac	9	(4)
Formation of a Sea Island	13	(8)
The Invasion	21	(8)
PART II THE LAND	29	(62)
Forest, Savannah and Swamp	29	(9)
Larger Animals of the Forest	38	(12)
Creeping and Crawling Things	50	(17)
Amphibians	67	(8)
Fresh-Water Ponds--the Bird Colonies	75	(16)
PART III THE MARSH	91	(38)
The Form of the Marsh	91	(9)
Out With the Tide	100	(10)
The Tide Comes In	110	(8)
Production	118	(11)
PART IV THE BEACH	129	(32)
Beach Drift	129	(12)
Zoning	141	(12)
Birds of the Shore	153	(8)
FINISH	161	(2)
AFTERWORD	163	(8)
INDEX	171