Habitat Code	Habitat Group	Name	Description
CYSW	Coastal Plain Inland Habitats	Cypress Swamps	Seasonally or permanently flooded swamps dominated by Cypresses, either Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) or Pond Cypress (T. ascendens); includes both floodplain swamps and non-riverine swamps associated with wet flats in the Outer Coastal Plain; also includes Carolina Bays that have Cypress forming a usually open canopy
LLSF	Coastal Plain Inland Habitats	Longleaf Pine Savannas and Flatwoods	Frequently burned sandy flats in the Coastal Plain dominated by Longleaf Pines (Pinus palustris) in the canopy and usually with expanses of wiregrass, heaths, and other fire-tolerant herbs and shrubs in the ground-layers; savannas are fairly wet and support a rich diversity of herbaceous species; shrubs are more dominant in flatwoods (which in some cases represent fire-suppressed savannas)
PLND	Coastal Plain Inland Habitats	Peatlands	Coastal wetlands associated with permanently saturated, acidic, nutrient-poor peatland soils; vegetation is characterized by dense thickets of heaths, hollies, and other acid-loving shrubs; where these shrubs occur by themselves, the habitats are termed pocosins; canopies of Pond Pines, hardwood Bays, or Cypress may also present; includes Hillside Seepage Bogs in the Piedmont and Sandhill Seeps in the Fall-line Sandhills
SNDH	Coastal Plain Inland Habitats	Dry-xeric Sandhills	Well-drained sandy uplands with an open canopy of Longleaf Pines and Turkey Oak (Quercus laevis) and other species of xerophytic oaks; found in small areas of relict dunes in the Outer Coastal Plain but cover large areas in the Fall-line Sandhills (fire-suppressed examples, where a closed canopy dominated by hardwoods exist are treated under Dry Hardwood Slopes and Ridges)
ALRN	Human Altered Habitats	Artificially Landscaped Residential Neighborhoods	Residential neighborhoods that have been heavily landscaped with non-native lawn species and other exotic ornamental plants
CDUA	Human Altered Habitats	Cities and other Densely Urbanized Areas	City-scapes composed primarily of dense buildings and extensively paved areas; natural vegetation (primarily weedy species) is confined to \"waste areas\" or small, relatively isolated parks and gardens
CLND	Human Altered Habitats	Croplands	Farmlands under active cultivation
CPGA	Human Altered Habitats	City Park, Garden, or Arboretum	City Park, Garden, or Arboretum
OLFI	Human Altered Habitats	Old Fields	Abandoned farmland and regenerating clear-cuts dominated by a mixture of weedy herbaceous species and early successional trees and shrubs
PPLN	Human Altered Habitats	Pine Plantations	Tree plantations composed of Loblolly Pines (Pinus taeda) or other species of pines
PSNG	Human Altered Habitats	Pastures and other Semi-natural Grasslands	Pastures and other semi-natural grasslands especially containing populations of Broom-sedge (Andropogon virginicus) and other native grasses
SWRN	Human Altered Habitats	Semi-wooded Residential Neighborhoods	Residential neighborhoods that retain at least some cover of native tree species, including along the drainage-ways running through the neighborhood
YSGH	Human Altered Habitats	Young Second-growth Hardwoods	Abandoned farmland and cut-over areas that have succeeded beyond the herbaceous, old-field stage and now support dense stands of early successional hardwoods
BPSW	Riparian and Shoreline Habitats	Beaver Ponds and Other Shallow Impoundments	Open pond habitats naturally created by beavers but also including man-made ponds where natural vegetation has been allowed to develop; vegetation includes emergent and floating plants associated with the ponds themselves as well as hummocks of sedges and other herbaceous species that develop as the ponds begin to fill in with sediments
CABR	Riparian and Shoreline Habitats	Canebrakes	Dense thickets of cane, growing either by themselves (true Canebrakes) or under a canopy composed of various types of trees
FSPR	Riparian and Shoreline Habitats	Forest Seeps and Springs	Herb-dominated wetlands located as patches within bottomland hardwoods, usually at the base of steep slopes but often extending out into the floodplain
FWMA	Riparian and Shoreline Habitats	Freshwater Marshes	Wetland habitats associated with freshwater rivers, streams, and lakes; vegetation consists primarily of cattails, tall grasses and sedges, and other herbaceous plants tolerant of deep or prolonged flooding
SWAT	Riparian and Shoreline Habitats	Shoreline Willow and Alder Thickets	Thickets of willows (Salix sp.), alders (Alnus sp.), and other shrubs associated with the shorelines of rivers, lakes, ponds, and estuaries
WTHW	Riparian and Shoreline Habitats	Floodplain and Non-riverine Wet Hardwoods -- Generic	Frequently or occasionally flooded forests dominated by hardwood trees; used when the substrate (Acidic or Basic) is not known
WTHW-BLW	Riparian and Shoreline Habitats	Floodplain and Non-riverine Wet Hardwoods -- Blackwater	Frequently or occasionally flooded forests dominated by hardwood trees; usually associated with floodplains of blackwater rivers and streams in the Coastal Plain but also including the floodplains of brownwater rivers in the Coastal Plain, i.e., the Roanoke, Tar, Neuse, and Cape Fear, all of which originate in the Piedmont or Mountains. But also found on wet flats with mineral (i.e., non-peatland) soils in the Outer Coastal Plain
WTHW-BRW	Riparian and Shoreline Habitats	Floodplain and Non-riverine Wet Hardwoods -- Brownwater	Frequently or occasionally flooded forests dominated by hardwood trees; usually associated with floodplains of Piedmont rivers and streams but also including the floodplains of brownwater rivers in the Coastal Plain, i.e., the Roanoke, Tar, Neuse, and Cape Fear, all of which originate in the Piedmont or Mountains. Also includes forested examples of upland depressions.
CDGS	Tidewater Habitats	Coastal Dune Grasslands and Scrub	Open grasslands and shrub thickets associated with sand dunes on barrier islands; includes the fore-dunes dominated by Sea Oats and American Beach Grass as well as more diverse grassland and shrubland habitats located in the dune fields behind the barrier dunes
MARF	Tidewater Habitats	Maritime Forests	Forests dominated by Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) growing on barrier islands and areas on the mainland that border sounds or estuaries
SLTM	Tidewater Habitats	Saltwater Marshes and Flats	Tidal wetlands along the edges of coastal sounds and estuaries; dominated by salt-tolerant grasses and other herbaceous species; also includes less frequently flooded flats supporting thickets of Red Cedars and other salt-tolerant shrubs and herbs
BDRHF	Upland Habitats	Basic Dry Hardwood Slopes and Ridges	Dry Hardwood forests growing on basic substrates and supporting stands of trees and shrubs requiring soils with a high nutrient content and high pH.
BHEHF	Upland Habitats	Basic High Elevation Hardwood Forests	High elevation hardwood forests growing on basic substrates (e.g., Amphibolite) and supporting a high diversity of herbs, shrubs, and trees requiring soils with high nutrient content and high pH
BMEHS	Upland Habitats	Basic-Mesic Hardwood Slopes	Mesic forests growing on basic substrates and supporting a high diversity of spring wildflowers and other species of plants requiring soils with a high nutrient content and high soil pH
DRHF	Upland Habitats	Dry Hardwood Slopes and Ridges	Forests (closed canopy) and woodlands (open canopy) dominated by hardwoods associated with dry ridges and slopes primarily in the Piedmont and Mountains (in the Coastal Plain, similar habitats would be normally dominated by Longleaf Pine communities); vegetation is characteristically composed of oaks and hickories, usually with an intermixture of upland pines and heath thickets
HEGB	Upland Habitats	High Elevation Grass Balds	Natural or semi-natural grasslands occurring on the tops of high elevation ridges in the Southern Appalachians
HEHF	Upland Habitats	High Elevation Hardwood Forests	Forests containing species of birches, maples, poplars, and other species typical of forests growing farther to the north and that are only found at higher elevations (usually above 4,000\' in the Southern Appalachians);
MBFE	Upland Habitats	Mountain Bogs and Fens	Peatland habitats located at moderate to relatively high elevations in the Southern Appalachians; herbs and shrubs associated with these habitats are often highly disjunct from their major ranges farther north
MEHS	Upland Habitats	Mesic Hardwood Slopes	Forests composed of hardwoods growing on cool, moist slopes; associated with ravines and north-facing slopes in the Piedmont and more rarely in the Coastal Plain; associated with Coves in the Low Mountains; American Beech (Fagus americanus) and Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) are found throughout the state in these habitats
OROB-A	Upland Habitats	Open Rock Outcrops and Glades -- Acidic	Open glades associated with acidic rock formations that are either exposed or buried just below the surface; trees, if present, are often stunted or confined to the margins of the glades (heath barrens are included under Upland Heath Thickets)
OROB-B	Upland Habitats	Open Rock Outcrops and Glades -- Basic	Open glades associated with basic rock formations that are either exposed or buried just below the surface; trees, if present, are often stunted or confined to the margins of the glades
SFCF	Upland Habitats	Spruce-fir Coniferous Forests	High elevation conifer forests dominated by Red Spruce (Picea rubens) and Fraser Fir (Abies fraseri); restricted to elevations above 4,500\', now badly ravaged by the Balsam Wooly Adelgid and acid preciptitation
UPHT	Upland Habitats	Upland Heath Thickets	Thickets of blueberries, azaleas, rhododendrons, and other heaths growing on acidic ridges and drier slopes, including heath balds in the Mountains (species associated with cool, moist habitats are covered by Mesic Hardwood Slopes)
UNKN	_Habitat Unknown