The Blackwater is known for its pocosins, including the rare type called streamhead pocosin. It occurs in several habitat types including savanna, forest, bog, and pocosin. The thickness of the organic buildup varies depending on one's location within the pocosin. Historically, coastal populations would select for pocosin ecosystems. The word "pocosin" itself comes from an Algonquian language via an uncertain etymology. Human presence in the Pocosin Lakes region likely dates back as many as 10,000 years. Two notable wildfires have burned within the Pocosin Lakes NWR since its protection. It burned inside the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and burned for three months. Pocosin ecosystems are fire-adapted (pyrophytic). The Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1984 to help preserve pocosin wetlands. Its common names include bayberry, southern bayberry, pocosin bayberry, and evergreen bayberry. Pocosin Fork is a stream in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Pocosin soils are nutrient-deficient (oligotrophic), especially in phosphorus.