1994 SC DNR Orthophotograph Mosaic
Beck Island
Marsh Island Park
Rhett's Bluff
Beck Island
Beck Island (preserved in December 2000) is a marsh island located on the north side of the Kiawah River, just west of a small, unnamed tidal creek. Beck Island is narrowly elliptic in shape and has a northwest-southeast orientation. It is surrounded by Salt Marshes and the northwest end of the island consists of Salt Shrub Thickets and Salt Flats. Although the island is small, the uplands support a well-developed Shell Midden Woodland. Shell midden woodlands are a variant of maritime forests; they differ from maritime forests by having an open, discontinuous canopy of trees, by supporting plant species that are calciphilic, and by being less diverse than maritime forests. These differences are due primarily to exposure, size and the high shell content in the soil.
The shell midden woodland on the northwest end of Beck Island shows evidence of wind damage. Many trees, particularly sand live oaks, were blown down; most likely this damage occurred during Hurricane Hugo. A small, open pool of saline water is located at the northwest end of the upland portion of the island. The origin of this pool is unknown.
Two plant species of interest occur on Beck Island. The first is the shell mound shrub, or shell mound buckthorn (Sageretia minutiflora). Approximately 11 shrubs were found on the southeast end of the island, just south of the boat access point. This shrub is restricted to the coastal shell middens of Charleston, Colleton and Beaufort Counties of South Carolina and is considered to be rare by the SC Department of Natural Resources.
The other species of interest found on Beck Island is saw palmetto (Serenoa repens). Saw palmetto was found to occur in the northwest portion of the shell midden woodland. The northernmost extent of the natural range of saw palmetto is Kiawah Island.
