The North Atlantic coast of North America, commonly known as the Atlantic Coast, extends from Newfoundland and Labrador through the Maritime Provinces of Canada and the Northeastern United States including Cape Cod in Massachusetts and Long Island N.Y. south to Cape Hatteras off the coast of North Carolina. This North Atlantic region belongs to the sea. The maritime influence on climate, flora, and fauna is dominant, even far inland. This is where the great northern boreal forests intermingle with the mixed coniferous-hardwood forests farther south and where the cold, iceberg-studded Labrador Current from the Arctic and the warm Gulf Stream of the tropics vie for supremacy.

Filled with stunning photographs, the book includes chapters on the geological origins of this region, the two major forest realms, and the main freshwater and marine ecosystems and also describes the flora and fauna within each of these habitats. Finally, it looks at what has been lost but also what remains of the natural heritage of the region and how that might be conserved in future. It is an exploration of the islands, marshes, estuaries, and coastal forests where the rockbound continent meets the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean.