Significantnaturalheritage

Landscape Habitat/Indicator Guilds :: Biodiversity and Wildlife Habitat Assessment
 * Indicators::** Animal Diversity :: At-risk species :: Breeding bird survey :: Significant Natural Heritage Areas

= = =Significant Natural Heritage Areas=


 * What is this?**

In conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Plant Conservation Program of the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program maintains a database of Significant Natural Heritage Areas. The database contains information about the highest quality natural communities of the state. A Significant Natural Heritage Area is an area of land or a waterway that N.C. Natural Heritage Program considers to be important for conservation of biodiversity.

N.C. Natural Heritage Program ranks each Significant Natural Heritage Area according to its state, national and regional significance: - Nationally significant natural areas contain examples of natural communities, rare plant or animal populations, or geologic features that are among the highest quality, most viable, or best of their kind in the nation, or clusters of such elements. - Statewide significant natural areas contain similar ecological resources that are among the best occurrences in North Carolina. These do not qualify as critical to the national persistence of the resource. - Regionally significant natural areas contain natural elements that may be represented elsewhere in the state by better quality examples, but which are among the outstanding examples in their geographic region of the state. A few better examples may occur in nationally or state significant natural areas. Regions consist of an area the size of about five counties.

Many of these special places are permanently protected (see Figures 1-6). For those Significant Natural Heritage Areas that fall on private land, Natural Heritage Program offers landowners opportunities to participate in voluntary conservation programs to protect Significant Natural Heritage Areas. The data maintained by NC Natural Heritage Program serves to educate the public, lawmakers, and private landowners regarding these ecologically significant communities and helps to guide decision-making processes regarding proposed development.


 * **NCNHP History**. The Natural Heritage Program is a program established by The Nature Conservancy in 1974. Since then, every state and several countries and territories in the Americas have developed Natural Heritage Program to inventory the occurrences of species and habitats in each county within its boundaries. In the 1990s, TNC and the state Natural Heritage Programs evolved into an independent non-profit organization called NatureServe, which has since become the most complete and detailed international source of information about rare species and threatened ecosystems. Being aware of what species are in an area allows planners and conservationists to consider how to best manage the land for people and resources.

The North Carolina Natural Heritage Program was established by the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources to create an inventory of the biodiversity in the state. Rare and at-risk species are identified and mapped to aid in conservation planning. NC Natural Heritage Program also identifies important areas for wildlife habitat using two programs: Significant Natural Heritage Areas and Landscape/Habitat Indicator Guilds. Both programs serve to guide conservation efforts across the state and each includes different considerations of species’ needs. ||


 * Why is this important?**

Significant Natural Heritage Areas contain one or more rare plant or animal species, special animal habitats or rare natural communities. Conserving biodiversity depends on protection of the greatest number of plant and animal species in distinctive communities and habitats. Significant Natural Heritage Areas contain the best known representatives of elements of diversity in the state and are therefore used to prioritize lands for protection.


 * Below are the most important Aquatic SNHAs in each county.


 * Chatham** - Bear Creek, Haw River, Lower Rocky/Deep Rivers, Middle Deep River
 * Durham** - Eno River
 * Johnston** - Little River, Swift Creek
 * Lee** - Lower Rocky/Deep Rivers, Middle Deep River, Upper Cape Fear River
 * Orange** - Eno River, Haw River, University Lake
 * Wake** - Little River, Swift Creek ||


 * What does this measure show?**

There are 241 Significant Natural Heritage Areas partially or completely located in the Triangle, comprising 3.05% of the land. Durham County has the most area in Significant Natural Heritage Areas, with 18%; the other five counties are each composed of less than 5% Significant Natural Heritage Area. Several Triangle counties are managing land for conservation of these Significant Natural Heritage Areas (Figures 1 and 2), and the Triangle as a whole has more than 60% of these lands protected (Figure 2). The amount of area under conservation management in Durham, Chatham and Wake Counties (ergo for the Triangle as a whole) is somewhat inflated by land conservation associated with Falls and Jordan Lakes and W.B. Umstead State Park.

Source: N.C. Natural Heritage Program, www.onencnaturally.com; see Technical Notes (below).
 * Figure 1.** Significant Natural Heritage Areas in the Triangle

Source: [|www.nconemap.com]
 * Table 1.** Significant Natural Heritage Areas in the Triangle (acres).
 * = Chatham ||= Durham ||= Johnston ||= Lee ||= Orange ||= Wake ||= Triangle ||
 * = 21031 ||= 34389 ||= 15121 ||= 2831 ||= 10411 ||= 14122 ||= 97905 ||

Percent Significant Natural Heritage Area under conservation management Source: N.C. Natural Heritage Program, www.onencnaturally.com, see Technical Notes (below).
 * Figure 2.**


 * Authors** Steve Allen, Jessica Stocking and Amanda Willis :: N.C. State University :: 2010.05.07

Jacquelyn Wallace :: North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Dr. Dean L. Urban :: Duke University Dr. Christopher Moorman :: N.C. State University
 * Reviewers**


 * Technical Notes**

Conservation land files (conland0709.shp and easements0709.shp) were downloaded from [|www.OneNCNaturally.com]. Significant Natural Heritage Area data were downloaded from [].

Analyses performed in ESRI ArcMap 9.3:
 * Merge: Combined lands under conservation management.
 * Intersect: Isolated Significant Natural Heritage Area lands that are being managed for conservation.
 * Calculate geometry: Calculated areas of Significant Natural Heritage Areas under conservation management.

Spreadsheet of Core Areas: