This Nearctic ecoregion lies in the southeastern United States, part of One Earth's Southeast US Savannas & Forests subrealm, which spans much of the Atlantic seaboard and Southeast and is "dominated by grasslands but also includes adjoining mixed forests." Its characteristic landscapes are fire-maintained longleaf-pine (conifer) savannas and woodlands across the low-relief North American Coastal Plain, where most of the native vegetation is adapted to frequent fire. The regional climate is warm-temperate, becoming subtropical in its southernmost portions. Notably, the surrounding North American Coastal Plain was recognized in 2016 by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund as the world's 36th global biodiversity hotspot, with high richness among plants, freshwater fish, and amphibians.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 27.7°N, 80.4°W.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
USDA zone range (now)
10a
USDA
What seed packets and nursery tags reference. Coldest-day survival semantics.
Plotwright projection (2041–2070)
13a
Plotwright
Where CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.7°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
At a glance
Dominant biome
Temperate Grasslands, Savannas & Shrublands
Realm
Nearctic
Approximate area
11 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Imperiled (Dinerstein NNH 4)
About the temperate grasslands, savannas & shrublands biome
Temperate prairies, steppes, and pampas of grasses and forbs with few trees, under continental climates of hot summers and cold winters. Their deep, fertile soils have made them among the most extensively converted biomes for agriculture.
National refinement sub-regions
Within this RESOLVE ecoregion, national agencies recognise finer-grained sub-regions. Plotwright assigns each sub-region polygon to its containing RESOLVE polygon by centroid.
EPA Level III (US-only) — 1 sub-region
75 · Southern Coastal Plain
Source: USGS / EPA via Omernik (1987).
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer published current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.
Climate-resilient picks · 4
These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.
Related ecoregions
Other temperate grasslands, savannas & shrublands ecoregions to explore: