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Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain
(Area - 5,460,600 ha)
Description - The Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain extends from the
Atlantic Ocean, south of Long Island, to the Fall Line, where the hilly Piedmont begins.
It is arbitrarily separated from the South Atlantic Coastal Plain at the Virginia-North
Carolina border (with the exception of the Great Dismal Swamp in the southeast corner of
Virginia, which is grouped in the southern area). The area was formed by shifting sea
levels and alluvial deposition from rivers draining mountains to the west. Water continues
to be a dominant feature of the landscape, creating forested wetlands and salt marsh and
shaping barrier island and bay complexes. Upland forests on the remaining land graded in
composition from pine dominated areas on the outer Coastal Plain (nearer the coast) to
hardwood forests on the inner Coastal Plain. This was the site of the first successful
English settlement in North America, and the natural landscape has been altered by
European culture for nearly four centuries. The current human population approaches 11
million and is expected to continue to expand into the future, placing ever-increasing
demands on the region’s natural resources.
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Conservation recommendations and needs - Managing human population growth while maintaining functional natural ecosystems is the greatest conservation challenge facing land managers in this region. The future of wildlife habitat depends on protection of patches of conservation significance and the manner in which inevitable continuing growth alters the environment. Retention of populations of the highest priority birds, including the Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Piping Plover, and Henslow’s Sparrow, will require active protection and management of key sites. Forest habitat remains relatively abundant, but is very heavily fragmented. Identification and maintenance of those blocks large enough to support the full array of breeding birds should be a priority. Because of the close juxtaposition of coastal maritime, inland freshwater, and upland habitats, integrating the conservation objectives of priority land birds with those of waterfowl, shorebirds, and colonial-nesting waterbirds will be a high priority in the near future. Protection of critical sites for transient and wintering species also needs to be integrated with conservation plans for breeding habitats. Specific conservation recommendations for this physiographic area include:
• identify and restore tracts of pine-savannah habitat with the potential to support Red-cockaded Woodpecker clans within the next 20 years;
• establish burning program to maintain structural conditions in understory of existing pine-savannah;
• continue strict protection of beach and barrier dune habitat to minimize productivity losses by priority species;
• identify, prioritize, and protect all sites with > 50 ha of high marsh;
• identify and protect forest blocks that support significant populations of Prothonotary, Cerulean, and Swainson’s Warbler; or Wood Thrush;
• identify, and either acquire, mange or restore open lands > 50 ha with potential to support Henslow’s Sparrow.
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