Georgia Ecoregion Descriptions
August, 2001

45. Piedmont
Considered the nonmountainous portion of the old Appalachians Highland by physiographers, the northeast-southwest trending Piedmont ecoregion comprises a transitional area between the mostly mountainous ecoregions of the Appalachians to the northwest and the relatively flat coastal plain to the southeast. It is a complex mosaic of Precambrian and Paleozoic metamorphic and igneous rocks with moderately dissected irregular plains and some hills. The soils tend to be finer-textured than in coastal plain regions. Once largely cultivated, much of this region has reverted to pine and hardwood woodlands, and, more recently, spreading urban- and suburbanization.

45a. The Southern Inner Piedmont is mostly higher in elevation with more relief than 45b, but is generally lower and has less relief and contains different rocks and soils than 45d. The rolling to hilly, well-dissected upland contains mostly schist, gneiss, and granite bedrock. In the western portion, west of Atlanta and into Alabama, mica schist and micaceous saprolite are typical. To the east, biotite gneiss is more common. The region is now mostly forested, with major forest types of oak-pine and oak-hickory, with less loblolly-shortleaf pine forest than 45b. Open areas are mostly in pasture, although there are some small areas of cropland. Hay, cattle, and poultry are the main agricultural products. In Georgia, urban/suburban land cover has increased greatly within this ecoregion over the past twenty years.

45b. The Southern Outer Piedmont ecoregion has lower elevations, less relief, and less precipitation than 45a. Loblolly-shortleaf pine is the major forest type, with less oak-hickory and oak-pine than in 45a. Gneiss, schist and granite are the dominant rock types, covered with deep saprolite and mostly red, clayey subsoils. The majority of soils are Kanhapludults. The southern boundary of the ecoregion occurs at the Fall Line, where unconsolidated coastal plain sediments are deposited over the Piedmont metamorphic and igneous rocks.

45c. The Carolina Slate Belt is found primarily in the Carolinas, although a small area extends into Georgia. The mineral-rich metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks with slatey cleavage are finer-grained and less metamorphosed than most Piedmont regions. It tends to be less rugged, less dissected, with wider valleys than other Piedmont areas, and it generally has more silty and silty clay soils.

45d. The Talladega Upland of the Georgia Piedmont contains some dissected hills and tablelands that are mostly forested and at generally higher elevations than 45a and 45b. The geology is distinctive, consisting of mostly phyllite, quartzite, slate, metasiltstone, and metaconglomerate, in contrast to the high-grade metamorphic and intrusive igneous rocks of 45a and 45b. To the west in Alabama are more mountainous parts of the region, including Alabama’s highest peak, 2407-foot Cheaha Mountain. The climate of 45d is slightly cooler and wetter than the other ecoregions (45a, b, c) of the Georgia Piedmont. Oak-hickory-pine is the natural vegetation type.

45h. The Pine Mountain Ridges, a small, narrow region in the southwest portion of the Georgia Piedmont, contains quartzite-capped, steep-sloped ridges that rise 300-400 feet above the Piedmont surface to elevations over 1300 feet. Pine Mountain and Oak Mountain are the primary linear ridges trending southwest to northeast, and several other smaller ridges and mountains between these, including Bull Trail Mountain, Indian Grave Mountain, Salter Mountain, and Huckleberry Pinnacle, add to the region’s more mountainous appearance. The Flint River has cut some narrow, steep gorges, 400 feet deep, through the ridges. Streams in this region are often of higher gradient than surrounding areas of 45b, and contain more rocky and gravelly substrates.

65. Southeastern Plains
These irregular plains with broad interstream areas have a mosaic of cropland, pasture, woodland, and forest. Natural vegetation is mostly oak-hickory-pine and Southern mixed forest. The Cretaceous or Tertiary-age sands, silts, and clays of the region contrast geologically with the Paleozoic limestone, shale and sandstone of ecoregions 67 and 68, or with the even older metamorphic and igneous rocks of the Piedmont (45). Elevations and relief are greater than in the Southern Coastal Plain (75), but generally less than in much of the Piedmont. Streams in this area are relatively low-gradient and sandy-bottomed.

65c. The Sand Hills of Georgia form a narrow, rolling to hilly, highly dissected coastal plain belt stretching across the state from Augusta to Columbus. The region is composed primarily of Cretaceous and some Eocene-age marine sands and clays deposited over the crystalline and metamorphic rocks of the Piedmont (45). Many of the droughty, low-nutrient soils formed in thick beds of sand, although soils in some areas contain more loamy and clayey horizons. On the drier sites, turkey oak and longleaf pine are dominant, while shortleaf-loblolly pine forests and other oak-pine forests are common throughout the region.

65d. The dissected irregular plains and gently rolling low hills of the Southern Hilly Gulf Coastal Plain ecoregion developed over diverse bands of sand, clay, and marl formations. The heterogeneous region that stretches west across Alabama and into Mississippi, has a mix of clayey, loamy, and sandy soils. It has more rolling topography, higher elevations, and more relief than 65g and 65k, and streams have increased gradient. The natural vegetation is mostly oak-hickory-pine forest, and to the south begins a transition into southern mixed forest. Land cover is mostly mixed forest and woodland, pine plantations, with some small areas of pasture and cropland.

65g. The Dougherty Plain is mostly flat to gently rolling and influenced by the near-surface limestone. The karst topography contains sinkholes, springs, and fewer streams in the flatter part of the plain. The northwestern boundary is gradational, as more gentle slopes and lower relief are found towards the center of the region. On the southeast, the Pelham escarpment marks the boundary with the Tifton Upland (65h). Landcover is primarily cropland and pasture, with some small areas of mixed forest. Crops such as peanuts and pecans are common, and cotton production has increased dramatically in recent years. Natural forest cover consisted of pines, including longleaf pine, red oaks, and hickories. Many shallow, flat-bottomed depressions are scattered throughout the region, caused by solution of the underlying limestone. The wetter, poorly drained depressions contain blackgum, sweetgum, water oak, and a few pines and cypress. Many of the limesink ponds and marshes act as biological oases in the mostly agricultural landscape.

65h. The Tifton Upland of Georgia has more rolling, hilly topography compared to 65g and 75e, with a mosaic of agriculture, pasture, and some mixed pine/hardwood forests. Soils are well-drained, brownish, and loamy, often with iron-rich or plinthic layers. They support crops of cotton, peanuts, soybeans, and corn. On the west side of the region, the Pelham Escarpment has bluffs and deep ravines with cool microclimates that support several rare plants and animals, as well as species with more northern affinities.

65k. In contrast to the more forested Sand Hills (65c) that formed mostly on light-colored Cretaceous sands, the Coastal Plain Red Uplands formed on reddish Eocene sand and clay formations. Soils are mostly well-drained with a brown or reddish brown loamy or sandy surface layer and red subsoils. The majority of the area is in cropland or pasture, with some woodland on steeper slopes. The Fort Valley Plateau falls within this ecoregion, a relatively small agricultural area with less relief, flat-topped interfluves, and less dissection than other parts of the 65k.

65l. Also called the Vidalia Upland in Georgia, the Atlantic Southern Loam Plains ecoregion is generally lower, flatter, and more gently rolling than 65k, and has more cropland and finer-textured soils than 75f. Similar to 65h, it has an abundance of the agriculturally important Tifton soils, but the region also contains forested areas that are more sloping or are low, flat and poorly drained. Parallel to some of the major stream courses are some excessively-drained, dunal sand ridges with xeric vegetation such as longleaf pine / turkey oak forests, and some distinctive evergreen shrubs, such as rosemary and woody mints.

65o. The Tallahassee Hills/Valdosta Limesink ecoregion combines two slightly different areas, both influenced by underlying limestone. The Floridan aquifer is thinly confined in this region, and streams are often intermittent or in parts flow underground in the karst landscape. In the west, the Tallahassee Hills portion has rolling, hilly topography that is more forested than 65h. Clayey sands weathered to a thick red residual soil are typical. Relief decreases towards the east, and the Valdosta Limesink area has more solution basins with ponds, lakes, and swampy depressions, as well as areas with more cropland. The soils are typically brownish. Mixed hardwoods and pine are found on the clayhill upland soils, while longleaf pine/xerophytic oak types occur on the sandy, well-drained areas.

65p. Southeastern Floodplains and Low Terraces comprise a riverine ecoregion of large sluggish rivers and backwaters with ponds, swamps, and oxbow lakes. River swamp forests of bald cypress and water tupelo and oak-dominated bottomland hardwood forests provide important wildlife corridors and habitat. The Georgia portion of the region includes the major river systems, such as the Chattahoochee, Flint, Ocmulgee, Oconee, Ogeechee, and Savannah. All of these alluvial rivers of 65p either originate in or cross the Piedmont (45).

66. Blue Ridge
The Blue Ridge extends from southern Pennsylvania to northern Georgia, varying from narrow ridges to hilly plateaus to more massive mountainous areas with high peaks. The mostly forested slopes, high-gradient, cool, clear streams, and rugged terrain occur on a mix of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary geology. Annual precipitation of over 80 inches can occur on the well-exposed high peaks. The southern Blue Ridge is one of the richest centers of biodiversity in the eastern U.S. It is one of the most floristically diverse ecoregions, and includes Appalachian oak forests, northern hardwoods, and, at the highest elevations in Tennessee and North Carolina, Southeastern spruce-fir forests. Shrub, grass, and heath balds, hemlock, cove hardwoods, and oak-pine communities are also significant. Black bear, whitetail deer, wild boar, turkey, grouse, songbirds, many species of amphibians and reptiles, thousands of species of invertebrates, and a variety of small mammals are found here.

66d. The Southern Crystalline Ridges and Mountains contain the highest and wettest mountains in Georgia. These occur primarily on Precambrian-age igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. The common crystalline rock types include gneiss, schist, and quartzite, covered by well-drained, acidic, brownish, loamy soils. Some mafic and ultramafic rocks also occur here, producing more basic soils. Elevations of this rough, dissected region are typically 1800-4000 feet, with Brasstown Bald Mountain, the highest point in Georgia, reaching 4,784 feet. Although there are a few small areas of pasture and apple orchards, the region is mostly forested.

66g. The Southern Metasedimentary Mountains in Georgia contain rocks that are generally not as strongly metamorphosed as the gneisses and schists of 66d. The geologic materials are mostly late Pre-Cambrian and include slate, conglomerate, phyllite, metagraywacke, metasiltstone, metasandstone, and quartzite, with some schist and gneiss. Although the highest peaks are lower than in 66d, and parts of the region have more open low hills, there are some isolated masses of rugged mountains, such as the biologically-diverse Cohutta Mountains, Rich Mountains, and Fort Mountain.

66j. The Broad Basins ecoregion is drier, and has lower elevations and less relief than the more mountainous Blue Ridge regions (66g, 66d). It also has less bouldery colluvium than those two surrounding regions and more saprolite. The soils are mostly deep, well-drained, loamy to clayey Ultisols. Although this rolling foothills region is mostly forested, it has more pasture than adjacent regions, and some narrow areas of row crops and truck crops on terraces and floodplains. Much of the pasture and corn crops support local cattle, hog, or poultry operations.

67. Ridge and Valley
Sometimes called the Great Valley in Georgia, this is a relatively low-lying region between the Blue Ridge (66) to the east and the Southwestern Appalachians (68) on the west. As a result of extreme folding and faulting events, the roughly parallel ridges and valleys come in a variety of widths, heights, and geologic materials, including limestone, dolomite, shale, siltstone, sandstone, chert, mudstone, and marble. Springs and caves are relatively numerous. Land cover is mixed and present-day forests cover about 50% of the region. Forested ridges, and valleys with pasture and cropland, are typical in many parts of ecoregion 67. Its diverse habitats contain many unique species of terrestrial and aquatic flora and fauna.

67f. The Southern Limestone/Dolomite Valleys and Low Rolling Hills form a heterogeneous region composed predominantly of limestone and cherty dolomite. Landforms are mostly undulating valleys and rounded ridges and hills, with many caves and springs. Soils vary in their productivity, and land cover includes oak-hickory and oak-pine forests, pasture, intensive agriculture, and urban and industrial. Along the Coosa River floodplain, biota more typical of coastal plain regions can be found due to the valley and riverine connection to ecoregion 65 in Alabama.

67g The Southern Shale Valleys consist of undulating to rolling valleys and some low, rounded hills and knobs that are dominated by shale. The soils formed in materials weathered from shale, shaly limestone, and clayey sediments, and tend to be deep, acidic, moderately well-drained, and slowly permeable. The steeper slopes are used for pasture or have reverted to brush and mixed forest land. Small fields of hay, corn, soybeans, tobacco, and garden crops are grown on the foot slopes and bottom land.

67h. The Southern Sandstone Ridges region encompasses the major sandstone ridges, but these ridges also have areas of shale, siltstone, and conglomerate. The steep, forested ridges tend to have narrow crests, and the soils are typically stony, sandy, and of low fertility. The chemistry of streams flowing down the ridges can vary greatly depending on the geologic material. In Georgia and Tennessee, most of the sandstone ridges are relatively narrow, but in Alabama, the region also includes the Coosa and Cahaba ridges that are broader and of younger Pennsylvanian-age sandstone and shale. Oak-hickory-pine forests are the dominant land cover.

67i. The Southern Dissected Ridges and Knobs contain more crenulated, broken, or hummocky ridges, compared to the smoother, more sharply crested sandstone ridges of 67h. Although shale is common, there is a mixture and interbedding of geologic materials, including cherts, siltstone, sandstone, and quartzose limestone. Oak forests and pine forests are typical for the higher elevations of the ridges, with oak-hickory and a number of more mesic forest species on the lower slopes, knobs, and draws.

68. Southwestern Appalachians
Stretching from Kentucky to Alabama, these low mountains contain a mosaic of forest and woodland with some cropland and pasture. The eastern boundary of the ecoregion, along the abrupt escarpment next to the Ridge and Valley (67), is relatively smooth and only slightly notched by small eastward flowing stream drainages. The western boundary, next to the Interior Plateau’s Eastern Highland Rim in Alabama and Tennessee, is more crenulated with a rougher escarpment that is more deeply incised. The mixed mesophytic forest is restricted mostly to the deeper ravines and escarpment slopes, and the summit or tableland forests are dominated by mixed oaks with shortleaf pine.

68c. The Plateau Escarpment is characterized by steep, forested slopes and high velocity, high gradient streams. Local relief is often 1000 feet or more. The geologic strata include Mississippian-age limestone, sandstone, shale, and siltstone, and Pennsylvanian-age shale, siltstone, sandstone, and conglomerate. Streams have cut down into the limestone, but the gorge talus slopes are composed of colluvium with huge angular, slabby blocks of sandstone. Vegetation community types in the ravines and gorges include mixed oak and chestnut oak on the upper slopes, more mesic forests on the middle and lower slopes (beech-yellow poplar, sugar maple-basswood-ash-buckeye), with some rare hemlock along rocky streamsides and river birch along floodplain terraces.

68d. The Southern Table Plateaus include Sand Mountain and Lookout Mountain in northwest Georgia. While it has some similarities to the Cumberland Plateau (68a) in Tennessee with its Pennsylvanian-age sandstone caprock, shale layers, and coal-bearing strata, this ecoregion is lower in elevation, has a slightly warmer climate, and has more agriculture. Although the Georgia portion is mostly forested, primarily with mixed oak and oak-hickory communities, elevations decrease to the southwest in Alabama and there is more cropland and pasture. The plateau surface is less dissected with lower relief compared to the the Plateau Escarpment (68c), and it is slightly cooler with more precipitation than in the nearby lower elevations of 67f .

75. Southern Coastal Plain
The Southern Coastal Plain extends from South Carolina and Georgia through much of central Florida, and along the Gulf coast lowlands of the Florida Panhandle, Alabama, and Mississippi. From a national perspective, it appears to be mostly flat plains, but it is a heterogeneous region also containing barrier islands, coastal lagoons, marshes, and swampy lowlands along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. In Florida, an area of discontinuous highlands contains numerous lakes. This ecoregion is generally lower in elevation with less relief and wetter soils than ecoregion 65. Once covered by a variety of forest communities that included trees of longleaf pine, slash pine, pond pine, beech, sweetgum, southern magnolia, white oak, and laurel oak, land cover in the region is now mostly slash and loblolly pine with oak-gum-cypress forest in some low lying areas, citrus groves, pasture for beef cattle, and urban.

75e. The Okefenokee Plains consist of flat plains and low terraces developed on Pleistocene-Pliocene sands and gravels. These plains have slightly higher elevations and less standing water than 75g, although there are numereous swamps and bays. There are some highly acidic softwater lakes, mostly with low clarity, darkly colored water, but the color is variable depending on rainfall. Soils in the region are somewhat-poorly to poorly drained. The region has mostly coniferous forest and young pine plantation land cover, with areas of forested wetland.

75f. The Sea Island Flatwoods are poorly-drained flat plains with lower elevations and less dissection than 65l. Pleistocene sea levels rose and fell several times creating different terraces and shoreline deposits. Spodosols and other wet soils are common, although small areas of better-drained soils add some ecological diversity. Trail Ridge is in this region, forming the boundary with 75g. Loblolly and slash pine plantations cover much of the region. Water oak, willow oak, sweetgum, blackgum and cypress occur in wet areas.

75g. The Okefenokee Swamp is a mixture of forested swamp and freshwater marsh with some pine uplands. With Trail Ridge at its eastern boundary, the swamp drains to the south and southwest and contains the headwaters for the St. Marys and Suwannee Rivers. The swamp contains numerous islands, lakes, and thick beds of peat. The slow-moving waters are tea-colored and acidic. Cypress, blackgum, and bay forests are common, with scattered areas of prairie, which are comprised of grasses, sedges, and various aquatic plants. The Okefenokee Swamp is a rainfall-dependent system, and cycles of drought and fire affect both its vegetation and wildlife distributions. Most of this region is within the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

75h. The Bacon Terraces include several relatively flat, moderately dissected terraces with subtle east-facing scarps. The terraces, developed on Pliocene-Pleistocene sands and gravels, are dissected in a dendritic pattern by much of the upper Satilla River basin. Cropland is mostly on the well-drained soils on the long, narrow, flat to gently sloping ridges paralleling many of the stream courses. The broad flats of the interfluves are often poorly drained and covered in pine, while bottomland forests are found in the wet, narrow floodplains.

75i. Floodplains and Low Terraces are a continuation of the riverine 65p ecoregion across the Southern Coastal Plain. The broad floodplains and terraces of major rivers, such as the Savannah, Ogeechee, and Altamaha, comprise the region. Composed of stream alluvium and terrace deposits of sand, silt, clay, and gravel, along with some organic muck and swamp deposits, the region includes large sluggish rivers and backwaters with ponds, swamps, and oxbow lakes. River swamp forests of bald cypress and water tupelo and oak-dominated bottomland hardwood forests provide important wildlife habitat.

75j. The Sea Islands/Coastal Marsh region contains the lowest elevations in Georgia and is a highly dynamic environment affected by ocean wave, wind, and river action. Mostly sandy soils occur on the barrier islands, while organic and clayey soils occur in the freshwater, brackish, and salt marshes. Maritime forests of live oak, red cedar, slash pine, and cabbage palmetto grow on parts of the sea islands, and various species of cordgrass, saltgrass, and rushes are dominant in the marshes. The coastal marshes, tidal creeks, and estuaries are important nursery areas for fish, crabs, shrimp, and other marine species. Parts of the region have a long history of human alterations. Native Americans cultivated corn, melons, squash, and beans; a Spanish mission period during the 1500-1600's included crops of citrus, figs, peaches, olives, artichokes, and onions; and a plantation agriculture economy in the late 1700's through the 1800's produced indigo, rice, sugar cane, and sea island cotton.