Blackwater Ecological Preserve is a 319-acre natural area near Zuni, Virginia, owned by Old Dominion University and protected for its rare flatwoods of longleaf pine and turkey oak and its longleaf pine savanna. These plant communities are among the rarest in the state, and the preserve is especially significant because its longleaf pine savanna is the northernmost natural occurrence of that community in the United States. The university uses the preserve for ongoing research, including studies of longleaf pine survival rates, while public access is limited and arranged in advance through Old Dominion University.