NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Natural Heritage Program - Database Search
Natural Heritage Program
Web Content Display
The Natural Heritage Database Search provides lists of rare plants and animals, exemplary or unique natural communities, and important animal assemblages (e.g., heronries and colonial waterbird nesting sites) known to the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program. By default, records are summarized by county, but you also have the option to summarize the records by 7.5-minute (1:24,000 scale) USGS topographic maps or simple statewide summaries. Below are brief notes on use of the database search. For more information on use of the database search or for an explanation of the values returned by the search, see the Help.
- Partial search terms are acceptable. For example, if you are unsure of the correct spelling for Brachyelytrum septentrionale, you could enter the beginning letters of either the genus or species in the Scientific Name field; either "brac" or "sept" would return the correct records. "b" or "s" would also return the correct species, however the search would also return all records whose scientific name contained a "b" or "s".
- For distribution maps, click on the scientific or common name of an element in the table of results from a county or topo database search. Note that there are no maps for the statewide summary.
- The results can be further refined by entering a text string in the "Filter search results" field. Entries not containing the text string will be removed from the table of results.
- Clicking the "Download Results' button will give you the option of saving the results table to a comma-separated-values file. This type of file can be opened with most spreadsheet programs, including Microsoft Excel.
- If you have any questions regarding the data contained on the map viewer, contact Natural Heritage Program staff. For technical issues regarding the application, contact the Conservation Information Manager
Use of North Carolina Natural Heritage Program data should not be substituted for actual field surveys, particularly if the project area contains suitable habitat for rare species. If a database search lists no records for a project area, it does not necessarily mean that they are not present. The area may not have been surveyed by biologists, or the data may not have been reported to the Natural Heritage Program.
Information obtained from the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program Map Viewer should be cited as follows: North Carolina Natural Heritage Program Online Database Search. [search date]. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Office of Conservation, Planning, and Community Affairs, Raleigh, NC. Available at: www.ncnhp.org.
