North Carolina

    
 

 

 
  • North Carolina Natural Heritage Program:  http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/gaston/Environment/NCNatherit.html From the forested mountains in the west to the marshes and dunes of the coast, North Carolina contains more natural diversity than all but a few of the other states. This diversity both comprises and is dependent on a wide range of native ecosystems varying from the grassy balds and spruce-fir forests of the mountains to the pocosins and swamps of the coastal plain. Although much of North Carolina's natural landscape has been converted to non-native ecosystems, some remnants of our native ecosystems remain. And it is in these remnants that some of the most rare plants and animals and the best examples of our natural communities of our state survive. It is the goal of the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program to find these remnants, to document their location and condition, to study them and, when appropriate, to facilitate their protection.