Habitat Types

 The Roanoke River is a typical southeastern United States alluvial system that has formed forested swamps in the Coastal Plain region. In the upper reach from Weldon to Scotland Neck, the Roanoke River floodplain is relatively narrow with some locations only a mile wide. The natural levees and ridges alternate with sloughs and backswamps in rapid succession. The floodplain becomes flatter and broader in the middle section. Widths of 2 to 3 miles, with 1,000-acre cypress-gum backswamps, are not uncommon. The continued presence of levees and ridges makes the middle section the most diverse and productive. The river is essentially at sea level below Jamesville and broad expanses of cypress-gum swamp as much as 5 miles wide dominate. As described in the NC Natural Heritage Program, there are six natural communities within the Refuge boundary: coastal plain levee forest (brownwater subtype), cypress-gum swamp (blackwater subtype), cypress-gum swamp (brownwater subtype), coastal plain bottomland hardwoods (brownwater subtype), coastal plain semi-permanent impoundment, and mesic mixed hardwood forest (coastal plain)

The National Wetlands Inventory described the entire Refuge as a palustrine, forested wetland with deciduous or broad-leafed deciduous vegetation and a water regime ranging from temporarily flooded to semi-permanently flooded.