The natural history of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

covers many plant and animal species. The humid subtropical climate of Georgia influences its plant and animal life.

Flora

The state of Georgia has approximately 250 tree species and 58 protected plants. Georgia's native trees include red cedar, a variety of

pines A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

, oaks, maples, palms, sweetgum, scaly-bark and white hickories, as well as many others. Yellow jasmine, flowering quince, and mountain laurel make up just a few of the flowering shrubs in the state.Georgia – Flora and fauna – city-data.com
accessed February 3, 2007

Tree species

Georgia's approximately 250 tree species include red cedars and a medium-sized evergreen. These are found throughout Georgia and are very beneficial to many wildlife species. Specifically, the red cedar is a host plant for a variety of butterflies including the great purple hairstreak, the juniper hairstreak and the olive hairstreak. Among pine trees, the eastern white pine is found in

North Georgia North Georgia is the northern hilly/mountainous region in the U.S. state of Georgia. At the time of the arrival of settlers from Europe, it was inhabited largely by the Cherokee. The counties of north Georgia were often scenes of important eve ...

. Eastern white pines are typically tall. They are useful both to humans and wildlife in that they provide wood products for human use and seeds for many birds and animals as well as providing a nesting area for bald eagles. Most of central and south Georgia house the

longleaf pine The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...

, a tree which can grow in excess of in height. The

live oak Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of oaks in several different sections of the genus ''Quercus'' that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are not more closely related to each other than they are to other oaks. ...

, Georgia's state tree, grows along the coast as well as certain wooded areas. The wood of the live oak is strong and heavy, but not often used. The acorns that grow on the tree are eaten by birds and animals. Sugar maples are found in Georgia. They can commonly grow above and are useful for a variety of products, from the making of maple syrup to the creation of household products.

Needle palm ''Rhapidophyllum hystrix'', the needle palm, is a palm, the sole member of the genus ''Rhapidophyllum''. It is native to coastal margins of the subtropical eastern Gulf and south Atlantic states of the United States. Endemic populations can be ...

s, a variety of palm tree found near the Flint River in Georgia, reside in hardwood forests. The needle palm usually only reaches about tall.

Fauna

Regarding fauna,

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

can be found in approximately 50 counties. The

mockingbird Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the family Mimidae. They are best known for the habit of some species mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians, often loudly and in rapid succession. ...

and

brown thrasher The brown thrasher (''Toxostoma rufum''), sometimes erroneously called the brown thrush or fox-coloured thrush, is a bird in the family Mimidae, which also includes the New World catbirds and mockingbirds. The brown thrasher is abundant through ...

are just two of the 347 bird species that can be found in the state.Birds
Accessed June 20, 2008 The eastern diamondback,

copperhead Copperhead may refer to: Snakes * ''Agkistrodon contortrix'', or copperhead, a venomous pit viper species found in parts of North America * '' Austrelaps'', or Australian copperhead, a genus of venomous elapids found in southern Australia and Ta ...

, and

cottonmouth ''Agkistrodon piscivorus'' is a species of pit viper in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. It is one of the world's few semiaquatic vipers (along with the Florida cottonmouth), and is native to the southeastern United States. As ...

as well as

salamanders Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten ...

frogs A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" '' Triadobatrachus'' is ...

, and

toads Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scienti ...

are among 79 species of reptile and 63 amphibians that make Georgia their home. The most popular freshwater game fish are

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...

bream Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including '' Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), '' Acanthopagrus'', ''Argyrops'', '' Blicca'', '' Brama'', '' Chilotilapia'', ''Etelis'', '' L ...

, bass, and

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive ...

, all but the last of which are produced in state hatcheries for restocking.

Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...

, porpoises,

whales Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

, shrimp, oysters, and

blue crabs Blue crab may refer to: * Blue Crab 11, an American sailboat design * ''Callinectes sapidus'' – Chesapeake or Atlantic blue crab of the West Atlantic, introduced elsewhere * ''Cardisoma guanhumi'' – blue land crab of the West Atlantic * '' Disc ...

are found off the coast.

On land

Mammals

Georgia is home to more than ninety species of mammals.Mammals
Accessed June 20, 2008University of Georgia, Museum of Natural History: Full List of Species – Mammalia
Accessed June 20, 2008 Many of those mammals who live on Georgia's land have been

extirpate Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...

d, that is they are no longer found in Georgia but exist in other areas. Examples of extirpated species are the bison and the red wolf. Many others are

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

, such as the gray bat and the

Indiana bat The Indiana bat (''Myotis sodalis'') is a medium-sized mouse-eared bat native to North America. It lives primarily in Southern and Midwestern U.S. states and is listed as an endangered species. The Indiana bat is grey, black, or chestnut in colo ...

Amphibians and reptiles

More than 150 species of amphibians and reptiles species live in Georgia, divided into approximately 80 species of amphibians and 70 species of reptiles.Reptiles and Amphibians
Accessed June 20, 2008 Of the amphibians, 50 are

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

s and 30 are

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...

species. Twenty-seven species of

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

and forty-one species of

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

live in Georgia. Some of the amphibians and reptiles that are native to Georgia are the

Pigeon Mountain salamander The Pigeon Mountain salamander (''Plethodon petraeus'') is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to Pigeon Mountain in the US state of Georgia. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, rocky areas, and caves. It ...

, the

bullfrog ''Bullfrog'' is a common English language term to refer to large, aggressive frogs, regardless of species. Examples of bullfrogs include: Frog species America * Helmeted water toad (''Calyptocephalella gayi''), endemic to Chile *American bullfr ...

, the

loggerhead sea turtle The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around in carapace length when fully ...

and the

rat snake Rat snakes are members – along with kingsnakes, milk snakes, vine snakes and indigo snakes – of the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae. They are medium to large constrictors and are found throughout much of the Northern Hemi ...

Avifauna

About 347 bird species make their home in Georgia. Many of these birds are migratory. These species are divided into four categories: permanent residents birds, summer-breeding birds, winter residents and spring/fall migrants. Species of birds in Georgia are the

, Georgia's state bird and the

northern bobwhite The northern bobwhite (''Colinus virginianus''), also known as the Virginia quail or (in its home range) bobwhite quail, is a ground-dwelling bird native to Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Cuba, with introduced populations elsewhere in th ...

, the state

gamebird Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkeys, chickens, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and predators, and are often ...

References

{{reflist, 2 Environment of Georgia (U.S. state) Ecology of the United States