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Endangered Species and Special Habitats |
SERVICES
HARP performs endangered plant and animal surveys for large land development projects, utility lines and road rights-of way. HARP can also rescue and facilitate transplanting assignments for rare plant populations. HARP performs Natural Heritage Inventories of counties to determine local, State, Regional and Nationally significant sites. HARP is actively involved in the identification, study, and restoration and monitoring of the rare habitat known as “Piedmont Prairie”.
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| Hexastylis naniflora – Dwarf flowered heartleaf |
Helianthus schweinitzii - Federally Endangered species HARP is responsible for discovering several populations of Schweinitz sunflower in North and South Carolina |
Symphyotrichum georgiamum- Georgia Aster |
QUALIFICATIONS
Beginning in the mid-1960’s, Jim Matthews, HARP’s founder, started surveying natural areas across North Carolina in search of rare and unusual plant species and plant communities. From this early beginning, HARP has evolved into one of the Piedmont’s most trusted botanical survey firms.
HARP is well known by virtue of its ability to perform quality endangered plant and animal surveys in the Piedmont of the Carolinas. This is reflected by the fact that HARP has performed the Natural Areas Inventories for Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Gaston and Lincoln counties, North Carolina for the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program. Many rare and unusual plants, animals and biological communities have been located through these surveys. Additionally, many properties that have these special biological communities have been preserved and placed into protective covenants based on HARPs surveys. HARP is very proud of having the opportunity to help survey, preserve, conserve and protect areas across the Piedmont of both Carolinas.
HARP has located many populations of endangered and rare species over the years and has unmatched expertise in the study of three species endemic to the piedmont: Schweinitz’s Sunflower (Helianthus schweinitzii) Heart Leaf Ginger (Hexastylis naniflora), and Georgia Aster (Symphyotrichum georgiamum).
NOTABLE PROJECTS
- Contracted by NC Department of Transportation to conduct Endangered Species Surveys on numerous road projects in Gaston, Lincoln, Caldwell and Catawba Counties.
- Performed Natural Heritage Inventory of Mecklenburg County, Gaston County, Cabarrus County and Lincoln Counties to determine local, State, Regional and Nationally significant sites.
- Monitoring and management of numerous Piedmont Prairie remnants and restoration sites, including sites in Mecklenburg and Cabarrus Counties in North Carolina, and York County South Carolina. (see highlighted project below).
HIGHLIGHTED PROJECT
Suther Prairie, Cabarrus County North Carolina
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| Suther Prairie during a controlled Burn – a method utilized for management |
Suther Prairie – during spring bloom when Atamasco lilies and red Indian paint brush bloom |
Suther Prairie is a wet meadow located on a family farm near Mt. Pleasant in Cabarrus County NC. It lies in the floodplain of Dutch Buffalo Creek and is relatively wet much of the year. The prairie had been mowed for 150 years for hay, but not tilled for crops because of the hydric nature of the soils. The prairie has been in family ownership for many generations and regarded by them to be a special place, especially in the spring when thousands of Atamasco Lilies bloom.
When HARP was contracted to perform the Natural Heritage Inventory for Cabarrus County the landowner offered the prairie for survey. HARP biologists immediately recognized the site as a unique habitat, probably a piedmont prairie remnant. The prairie is extremely diverse with well over a hundred different species of herbaceous plants, including a disjunct population of Canada Lily (Lilium canadense var. canadense) that normally occurs in the mountains. Since its recognition as a special habitat, Suther Prairie has been managed by a team of partners including HARP, Cabarrus Soil and Water District, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation Natural Resources Division, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the landowners. HARP oversees yearly monitoring of the prairie and recommends management practices based on the data collected. Management strategies include controlled burns as depicted above.
Canada Lily (Lilium canadense var. canadense
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