The Middle Atlantic coastal forests are a temperate coniferous forest mixed with patches of evergreen broadleaved forests (closer to the Atlantic coast) along the coast of the

southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

Setting

The Middle Atlantic coastal forests stretch along the Southern

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

coast of the United States from extreme

South Jersey South Jersey, also known as Southern New Jersey, comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located between Pennsylvania and the lower Delaware River to its west, the Atlantic Ocean to its east, Delaware to its south, ...

south to the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

coast. They cover the lower

Atlantic coastal plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

and are bordered on the west by the Southeastern mixed forests. The habitats of the ecoregion are constantly modified by natural processes. The bottomlands, coastal plains, and maritime areas are vulnerable to

tropical cyclones A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

and floods. The drier areas with porous sandy soils are susceptible to fires and drought. Fire return intervals of 1 to 3 years favor

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...

s; longer intervals favor dense shrubs, to broadleaved evergreen trees.

Climate

This ecoregion has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

with hot summers and mild winters, and with the heaviest precipitation concentrated in the warmest months.

Flora

Two basic types of forests are found in this region; 1) Southern mixed hickory-pine-oak forests that see frequent fire with sandy soils, and 2) isolated patches of evergreen broadleaved forests and " hammocks" close to the Atlantic coastline in the southernmost areas in coastal

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

and coastal

. The mixed pine-oak forests occur on dry or sandy soils or in areas exposed to occasional fires. Longleaf pine ('' Pinus palustris''), superbly adapted to fire-prone environments, was the principal tree in many of these forests; however, extensive logging and human development have reduced this trees occurrence to less than 5% of its former range. Loblolly pine ('' Pinus taeda'') and shortleaf pine ('' Pinus echinata'') grow in sandy soils and are still dominant in this ecosystem. Loblolly is widely planted on millions of acres of plantation forest's across the southeastern US. On moist soils or where fires are infrequent,

hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

s overtake the pines. These hardwoods include turkey oak ('' Quercus laevis''), post oak (''

Quercus stellata ''Quercus stellata'', the post oak or iron oak, is a North American species of oak in the white oak section. It is a slow-growing oak that lives in dry areas on the edges of fields, tops of ridges, and also grows in poor soils, and is resistan ...

''), myrtle oak ('' Quercus myrtifolia''), Spanish oak ('' Quercus falcata''), and southern catalpa ('' Catalpa bignonioides''). Evergreen broadleaved forests occur close to the coast in localized areas as either evergreen Maritime oak forests or as more localized evergreen hammocks (geographically induced forest islands) (Box 1985). These forests consist of evergreen broadleaved and needled canopy trees, such as ''

Magnolia grandiflora ''Magnolia grandiflora'', commonly known as the southern magnolia or bull bay, is a tree of the family Magnoliaceae native to the Southeastern United States, from Virginia to central Florida, and west to East Texas. Reaching in height, it is a ...

'', '' Magnolia virginiana, Tamala borbonia, Gordonia lasianthus, Sabal,

Juniperus virginiana ''Juniperus virginiana'', also known as eastern redcedar, red cedar, Virginian juniper, eastern juniper, red juniper, and other local names, is a species of juniper native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico an ...

, Pinus taeda'', and several evergreen oaks such as '' Quercus myrtifolia'' and the iconic ''

Quercus virginiana ''Quercus virginiana'', also known as the southern live oak, is an evergreen oak tree endemic to the Southeastern United States. Though many other species are loosely called live oak, the southern live oak is particularly iconic of the Old South. ...

'' or southern live oak often covered with

Spanish moss Spanish moss (''Tillandsia usneoides'') is an Epiphyte, epiphytic flowering plant that often grows upon large trees in tropical and subtropical climates. It is native to much of Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Central America, South America (as far ...

(''Tillandsia usneoides''). The understory is also often evergreen in these forests, with '' Myrica cerifera'' and '' Osmanthus americanus'' very common, while several evergreen species of

Ericaceae The Ericaceae () are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with about 4,250 known species spread acros ...

, '' Ilex'', and scrub palms (''

Sabal minor ''Sabal minor'', commonly known as the dwarf palmetto, is a small species of Arecaceae, palm. It is native to the deep southeastern and south-central United States and northeastern Mexico. It is naturally found in a diversity of habitats, includi ...

'' and ''

Serenoa ''Serenoa repens'', commonly known as saw palmetto, is a small palm, growing to a maximum height around . Taxonomy It is the sole species in the genus ''Serenoa''. The genus name honors American botanist Sereno Watson. Distribution and ...

'') are common on more moist sites. In the open areas near sandy beaches and coastal areas, large endemic populations of ''

Yucca ''Yucca'' ( , YUCK-uh) is both the scientific name and common name for a genus native to North America from Panama to southern Canada. It contains 50 accepted species. In addition to yucca, they are also known as Adam's needle or Spanish-bayon ...

'' and cactus (''

Opuntia ''Opuntia'', commonly called the prickly pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae, many known for their flavorful fruit and showy flowers. Cacti are native to the Americas, and are well adapted to arid clima ...

'') thrive in the hot sun and sandy soils. The Middle Atlantic coastal forests contain the most diverse assemblage of freshwater wetland communities in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. These include freshwater marshes, shrub bogs, white cedar swamps, bayheads, and wet hammocks. The bottomland hardwood forests for which the ecoregion is famous are dominated by bald cypress (''

Taxodium distichum ''Taxodium distichum'' (baldcypress, bald-cypress, bald cypress, swamp cypress; ; ''cipre'' in Louisiana) is a deciduous conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States. Hardy and tough, this tree adapts to a ...

'') and swamp tupelo ( ''Nyssa sylvatica'' var. ''biflora''). Bald cypress swamps are often dominated by their namesake tree, and are too wet for foot travel. Many uncommon

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

s grow among the baldcypress branches. Swamp tupelo, along with water tupelo ('' Nyssa aquatica''), dominate mixed-hardwood swamp forests. These grow aside water-adapted oaks that include water oak (''

Quercus nigra ''Quercus nigra'', the water oak, is an oak in the red oak group (''Quercus'' sect. ''Lobatae''), native to the eastern and south-central United States, found in all the coastal states from New Jersey to Texas, and inland as far as Oklahoma, Ke ...

''), swamp chestnut oak ('' Quercus michauxii''), cherrybark oak ('' Quercus pagoda''), willow oak ('' Quercus phellos''), and overcup oak ('' Quercus lyrata''). Swamp hickory ('' Carya glabra'') and water hickory ('' Carya aquatica'') are also found here. Pawpaw ('' Asimina triloba'') grows in the understory. Atlantic white cedar (''

Chamaecyparis thyoides ''Chamaecyparis thyoides'' (Atlantic white cedar, Atlantic white cypress, southern white cedar, whitecedar, or false-cypress), a species of ''Cupressaceae'', is native to the Atlantic coast of North America and is found from southern Maine to Geo ...

'') swamps occur along

blackwater river A blackwater river is a type of River#Classification, river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. Most major blackwater rivers are in the Amazon Basin and the Southern United States. The term is used in fluvial ...

Pocosin Pocosin is a type of palustrine wetland with deep, acidic, sandy, peat soils. Groundwater saturates the soil except during brief seasonal dry spells and during prolonged droughts. Pocosin soils are nutrient-deficient (oligotrophic), especially in ...

s are flat and damp, sandy, or peaty areas far from streams. They have scattered pond pine ('' Pinus serotina'') and a dense growth of mostly evergreen shrubs including gallberry (''

Ilex glabra ''Ilex glabra'', also known as Appalachian tea, evergreen winterberry, Canadian winterberry, gallberry, inkberry, dye-leaves and , is a species of evergreen holly native to the coastal plain of eastern North America, from coastal Nova Scotia to ...

'').

Barrier island Barrier islands are a Coast#Landforms, coastal landform, a type of dune, dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of an ...

s along the coast protect extensive estuaries, lagoons, and sounds. Carolina bays are a unique habitat of the ecoregion.

Fauna

The nine-banded armadillo ('' Dasypus novemcinctus'') is a distinctive animal that lives in this ecoregion. The Virginia opossum ('' Didelphis virginiana'') is abundant. In the mixed pine-oak forests, the brown-headed nuthatch ('' Sitta pusilla'') feeds on pine seeds. The yellow-throated warbler ('' Dendroica dominica'') is widely distributed. The northern parula ('' Parula americana'') and the eastern bluebird ('' Sialia sialis'') are also found here. The Bachman's sparrow ('' Aimophila aestivalis'') and red-cockaded woodpecker ('' Picoides borealis''), both uncommon, also live in this ecoregion. The bottomland forests support abundant arthropods, produce mast that sustains migratory birds during the winter, and produce boles, branch cavities, and rotting logs that support various

detritivore Detritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders or detritus eaters) are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant and animal parts as well as feces). There are many kinds of invertebrates, ...

s and hole-nesting species. In the extreme southeast regions (coastal southeast North Carolina south to Georgia) the large American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) can be found along tidal inlets and marsh areas.

Contemporary land use

The main causes of habitat conversion are agriculture,

fire suppression Fire suppression may refer to: * Firefighting * Fire suppression systems * Wildfire suppression Wildfire suppression is a range of firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts depend on many factors such as the availabl ...

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...

, coastal development, ditching and draining of wetlands, and damming of rivers. The western part of the ecoregion has been most altered. There, the upland vegetation has been nearly completely converted. Long-leaf pine savannas have nearly disappeared. The least altered habitats in the ecoregion are the coastal marshes and deep

peatlands A peatland is a type of wetland whose soils consist of Soil organic matter, organic matter from decaying plants, forming layers of peat. Peatlands arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, du ...

Remaining intact habitat

Francis Marion National Forest The Francis Marion National Forest is located north of Charleston, South Carolina. It is named for revolutionary war hero Francis Marion, who was known to the British as the Swamp Fox. It lies entirely within the Middle Atlantic coastal forests ...

(SC) * Pine Barrens (NJ) * Holly Shelter Gamelands (NC) * Croatan National Forest (NC) * Congaree National Park (SC) *

Outer Banks The Outer Banks (frequently abbreviated OBX) are a string of barrier islands and spits off the coast of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, on the east coast of the United States. They line most of the North Carolina coastline, separatin ...

(NC) * Pamlimarle Peninsula (NC) * Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge (DE) *

Roanoke River The Roanoke River ( ) runs long through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the ...

(VA) * Sandhills Gameland (NC) * Sandhill National Wildlife Refuge (SC) * Great Dismal Swamp (VA and NC) * Great Cypress Swamp (DE and MD) *

Assateague Island Assateague Island is a long barrier island located off the eastern coast of the Delmarva Peninsula facing the Atlantic Ocean. The northern two-thirds of the island are in Maryland, and the southern third is in Virginia. The entire island is ...

(MD and VA) * Virginia Coast Reserve (VA) * Cape Romain (SC) *

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

(NC) * Fort Jackson (SC) *

Fort Stewart Fort Stewart is a United States Army post in the U.S. state of Georgia. It lies primarily in Liberty and Bryan counties, but also extends into smaller portions of Evans, Long, and Tattnall Counties. The nearby city of Hinesville, along with ...

(GA) * Cape May National Wildlife Refuge (NJ)

References

{{Geography topics Ecoregions of the United States Temperate coniferous forests Nearctic ecoregions