DCM Wetland Type Descriptions
Any salt marsh or other marsh subject to regular or occasional flooding by tides, including wind tides (whether or not the tide waters reach the marshland areas through natural or artificial watercourses), as long as this flooding does not include hurricane or tropical storm waters. Coastal wetland plant species include: smooth cordgrass; black needlerush; glasswort; salt grass; sea lavender; salt marsh bullrush; saw grass; cattail; salt meadow cordgrass; and big cordgrass
Any shrub/scrub dominated community subject to occasional flooding by tides, including wind tides (whether or not the tide waters reach the marshland areas through natural or artificial watercourses). Typical species include wax myrtle and eastern red cedar.
A forested wetland community subject to occasional flooding by tides, including wind tides (whether or not the tide waters reach the marshland areas through natural or artificial watercourses). Examples include pine-dominated communities with rushes in the understory or fringe swamp communities such as those that occur along the Albemarle and Pamlico sounds.
Maritime Forest
A forested community characterized by its stunted growth due to the stresses imposed by its proximity to salt spray from the ocean. Typical vegetation includes live oak, red maple and swamp tupelo.
Herbaceous areas that are flooded for extended periods during the growing season. Included are marshes within lacustrine systems, managed impoundments, some Carolina Bays, and other non-tidal marshes (i.e. marshes which do not fall into the Salt/Brackish Marsh category). Typical communities include species of sedges, millets, rushes and grasses that are not specified in the coastal wetland regulations. Also included are giant cane, arrowhead, pickeralweed, arrow arum, smartweed, and cattail
Palustrine scrub/shrub communities (i.e. non-Estuarine Scrub/Shrub) dominated by evergreen shrubs, often mixed with pond or loblolly pines. Typically occur on saturated, acid, nutrient poor, sandy or peaty soils; usually removed from large streams; and subject to periodic burning.
Bottomland Hardwood
Riverine forested or occasionally shrub/scrub communities usually occurring in floodplains, that are seasonally flooded. Typical species include oaks (overcup, water, laurel, swamp chestnut), sweet gum, green ash, cottonwoods, willows, river birch, and occasionally pines.
Very poorly drained riverine or non-riverine forested or occasionally shrub/scrub communities which are semi-permanently flooded, including temporarily flooded depressional systems. Typical species include cypress, black gum, water tupelo, green ash and red maple.
Headwater Swamp
Wooded, riverine systems along first order streams. These include hardwood dominated communities with soil that is moist most of the year. Channels receive their water from overland flow and rarely overflow their own banks.
Hardwood Flat
Poorly drained interstream flats not associated with rivers or estuaries. Seasonally saturated by high water table or poor drainage. Species vary greatly but often include sweet gum and red maple.
Palustrine, seasonally saturated pine communities on hydric soils that may become quite dry for part of the year. Generally occur in flat or nearly flat areas that are not associated with a river or stream system. Usually dominated by loblolly pine. This category does not include managed pine systems.
Managed Pineland
Seasonally saturated, managed pine forests (usually loblolly pine) occurring on hydric soils. This wetland category may also contain non-managed pine forests occurring on hydric soils. Generally these are areas that were not shown on National Wetlands Inventory maps. These areas may or may not be jurisdictional wetlands. Since this category is based primarily on soils data and 30 meter resolution satellite imagery, it is less accurate than the other wetland categories. The primary criteria for mapping these areas are hydric soils and a satellite imagery classification of 'pine forest'.
Human Impacted Area
Areas of human impact have physically disturbed the wetland, but the area is still wetland. Impoundments and some cutovers are included in this category, as well as other disturbed areas, such as power lines.
Note that due to technical considerations, the following modifiers are not yet shown in the on-line data.
Drained Wetland
Any wetland system described above that is, or has been, effectively drained (according to the National Wetlands Inventory).
Cleared Wetland
Former wetland areas for which satellite imagery indicates a lack of vegetation in both 1988 and 1994. These areas are likely to no longer be wetlands.
Cutover Wetland
Areas for which satellite imagery indicates a lack of vegetation in 1994. These areas are likely to still be wetlands, however, they may have been recently cut over. Vegetation in these areas may be regenerating naturally, or the area may be in use for silvicultural activities. Note that marshes can not be considered cutover.
