U.S. Northeast Region

Delaware’s Outsized Role in Regional Conservation

Delaware falls within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Northeast Region, which encompasses 13 states from Maine to Virginia. The Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (NEAFWA), the professional association that serves as the collective voice of the Northeast states, also works at this level. Delaware represents a very small proportion of the region (less than 1% by area) but has disproportionate responsibility for populations of several species of greatest conservation need. 

Delaware represents a very small proportion of the region — less than 1% by area — but has disproportionate responsibility for populations of several species of greatest conservation need.

A conservation status assessment of natural habitats in the Northeast was completed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in 2023 with support from NEAFWA (Anderson et al. 2023). The conservation status assessment reports the condition of key habitats in the region. 

Forests, Rivers, and Rare Habitats Under Pressure

The Northeast is more than 60% forested, with an average forest age of 60 years (Anderson et al. 2023). It contains more than 200,000 miles of rivers and streams, 35,000 water bodies, and more than 11.6 million acres of wetlands. Eleven globally unique habitats, from sandy barrens to limestone glade, support many  restricted rare species. Habitat fragmentation is one of the greatest challenges to regional biodiversity, as the region is crisscrossed by more than 732,000 miles of roads. The region also has the highest density of dams and other obstacles to fish passage in the country, with an average of 7 dams per 100 miles of river (Anderson et al. 2023). Conversion to human use has also impacted much of the northeast landscape, with 27% of forested land and 28% of wetlands already converted from the natural state to other uses through human activity.  

Who Owns Nature? Conservation Lands of the Northeast

In the Northeast, 19% of the region is conserved and six percent of that land is secured explicitly for nature. The secured land is held by more than 5,000 fee owners and 1,400 conservation easement holders. State governments are the largest public conservation landowners, with 12 million acres, followed by the federal government, which holds 6 million acres. Private non-profit lands held in easements account for 3.6 million acres followed by state, local, and federal easement holders. In total, 26% of the region has been converted to development or agriculture, compared to 19% conserved (Anderson et al. 2023). 

U.S. Southeast Region 

Although Delaware is part of the Northeast region of the U.S. with respect to agency subdivisions, the Coastal Plain of Delaware is part of the same ecoregion and has strong ecological affinities with the southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain. With climate change, these affinities can be expected to increase as northern species move northward out of Delaware and southern species move northward into the state. Therefore, despite the lack of a formal regional administrative affiliation, Delaware’s role in conserving the wildlife diversity of the southeast region of the U.S. is also critically important.  

Where North Ends and South Begins

Many species of sandy coastal plain areas reach the northern limit of their distribution on the Delmarva Peninsula. For example, the flora of Delmarva Coastal Plain Seasonal Ponds contains 78 species of native plants, of which 43 (55%) are of southern affinities, while only 10 (13%) are of northern affinities (McAvoy and Bowman 2002). Due to these similarities in sandy soils and plant life, highly disjunct Delaware populations of southeastern animal species, especially invertebrates, continue to be discovered (e.g., Heckscher 2014). 

A Global Hotspot in an Unlikely Place

The North American Coastal Plain (from Long Island to Texas) has been recognized as a global biodiversity hotspot, with high levels of endemism in plants, amphibians, reptiles, and freshwater fishes, among other taxa (Noss et al. 2015). Delaware’s low elevations and relatively simple topography would seem to limit the state’s potential for high biodiversity and rates of endemism. However, Noss et al. (2015) hypothesize that “modest topographic heterogeneity” has interacted with fluctuating sea levels to generate high levels of endemism throughout the North American Coastal Plain. 

Migratory Highways

In addition to resident species, many migratory species link Delaware with the southeast region, including marine and estuarine organisms that travel regularly between Delaware waters and the warmer waters of the Georgia Bight to the south, as well as migrant birds that winter primarily in the southeast, such as rusty blackbird. 

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