Wetlands and Deepwater Habitat in North Carolina

1997 Acres by Cowardin Wetland and Deepwater Habitat Classification

Estimated on Water Areas and Nonfederal Lands Only                  (1,000 acres)

Palustrine and Estuarine Wetlands by Broad Land Cover/Use

Estimated on Water Areas and Nonfederal Lands Only              (1,000 acres)

Definitions and Background

The National Resources Inventory (NRI) uses an abbreviated version of the Cowardin et. al. (1979) wetland and deepwater habitat classification system. The Cowardin system has been officially adopted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), is recognized by the Federal Geographic Data Committee, and is widely used to develop wetland data bases. The system was developed by Lewis M. Cowardin of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and others.

The FWS also conducts a wetlands inventory program, the Wetlands Status and Trends study. At the present time, results from these two wetland inventory programs are not directly comparable. Differences in the programs include areas of coverage, sampling design, and statistical methodology. The NRI estimates are for water areas and non-federal lands only. FWS wetland estimates include water areas, non-federal lands, and federal lands.

Wetlands are transitional lands between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface or the land is covered by shallow water.

Deepwater habitats are permanently flooded lands lying in deeper water than wetlands. All open water areas in which the mean water depth exceeds 6.6 feet in nontidal areas are included in deepwater habitat.

The five major systems within the Cowardin classification are Estuarine, Lacustrine, Marine, Palustrine, and Riverine. In general terms, these include:

Estuarine Deepwater - Deepwater tidal habitats. 

Estuarine Wetland - Tidal wetlands.

Lacustrine – Wetlands and deepwater habitats with open water exceeding 20 acres or more than 6.6 feet deep.

Marine – Open ocean and its associated high-energy coastline.

Palustrine – All nontidal wetlands dominated by trees, shrubs, and other persistent wetland plants. This system also includes water bodies less than 20 acres which are less than 6.6 feet in depth at low water.

Riverine - All open water wetland and deepwater habitats contained in a channel.

North Carolina 1997 Wetland and Deepwater Habitat Estimates

The NRI results indicate that Palustrine wetlands were the most common type in 1997 on North Carolina’s federal and non-federal water areas and non-federal lands, totaling nearly 4.6 million acres.

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