NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



Research, New England Section of the 

 Society of American Foresters. 1 Sixteen 

 forest types are found in the region, ac- 

 cording to the report. These are char- 

 acterized by beech, sugar maple, yellow 

 and paper birches (Betula lutea and B. 

 papyri/era) , spruce, balsam fir (Abies 

 balsamea), northern white cedar (Thuja 

 occidentalis), tamarack (Larix laricina), 

 hemlock (Tsugacanadensis), and scatter- 

 ing white pine (Pinus strobus). Ten of 

 these types are distinctive, including a 

 northern white cedar swamp type, two 

 fir types, four spruce types, a birch and 

 aspen type, and two mixed types. 



THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION 



The Southern Appalachian mountain 

 region is commonly regarded as embrac- 

 ing not only the Southern Appalachian 

 ranges included in or connecting the 

 Blue Ridge and Unaka, or Smoky, 

 mountains, but also the Alleghany and 

 Cumberland highlands and the Appala- 

 chian valleys, with their interior parallel 

 ridges. The area of the entire region is 

 approximately 93,800 sq. mi. The Na- 

 tional Forests are mostly situated in the 

 Appalachian mountains proper, which 

 have an approximate area of 17,700 sq. 

 mi. One, the Monongahela National 

 Forest, is in the Alleghany highlands of 

 West Virginia; another, the Shenandoah, 

 covers mountainous country partly in 

 the Alleghany highlands, partly in the 

 Southern Appalachians proper, and 

 partly in the Shenandoah Valley. The 

 total acreage of these National Forests 

 is approximately 2,208,000 acres, or 

 about one-fifth of the area of the South- 

 ern Appalachian mountains. 



Between the farthest north (the 

 Monongahela and Shenandoah) and the 

 farthest south (the Alabama) of the 

 National Forests within the region, 

 there is a difference of 5 degrees of lati- 

 tude and over 9 degrees of longitude. 

 In both the Shenandoah and the Ala- 

 bama the altitudes extend down to or 



1 Revision of a report on a forest region and type 

 classification for New England, by the Committee 

 on Research, New England Section of the Society 

 of American Foresters. Jour, of Forestry, 20: 795- 

 798, 1922* 



below 1000 ft., while at points in North 

 Carolina and Tennessee there are many 

 peaks and ridges exceeding 6000 ft. in 

 elevation. Accompanying these varia- 

 tions and a generally steep and broken 

 topography there are pronounced local 

 and general climatic differences and 

 variations in soil, which are responsible, 

 in turn, for a great diversity of vegeta- 

 tional forms. j ' 



Ashe 2 has listed 12 forest associations 

 in the Southern Appalachians, in which 

 he recognizes 35 forest types, 3 5 in the 

 Canadian Life Zone, 21 in the Alle- 

 ghanian area of the Transition, and 9 

 in the Carolinian area of the upper 

 Austral Zone. For a detailed discussion 

 of these types Ashe's paper above re- 

 ferred to should be consulted. In an 

 article of this length fine distinctions 

 can not be made, and a tentative state- 

 ment of groups of types prevailing under 

 broadly general environmental condi- 

 tions is therefore substituted. 4 



Subalpine group 6 



Well-marked subalpine forest types 

 appear in West Virginia nearly 400 

 mi. from their nearest extensive occur- 

 rence to the north and extend south- 

 ward in the mountains at increasing 

 elevations to the Georgia line. Red 

 spruce (Picea rubra) and southern 

 balsam (Abies fraseri), which is abun- 

 dant in some places, and absent in 

 others, are the most conspicuous mem- 

 bers of these types. Yellow birch and 

 fire cherry (Prunus pennsylvanica) are 

 also characteristic. Paper birch (Be- 

 tula papyrifera cordifolia Fern.) has 

 been found growing sparsely as far south 

 as Mount Mitchell, in North Carolina. 

 Largetooth aspen (Poplus grandiden- 

 tata) is fairly abundant in these types 

 in West Virginia, and the quaking aspen 



2 Ashe, W. W. Forest types of the Appalachians 

 and White Mountains. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell 

 Scientific Society, 37: 183-198. 1922. 



3 These are based upon composition alone. 

 Using height as a basis in addition to composition, 

 Ashe recognizes 56 types. 



4 A more definite statement of types is now being 

 prepared by a committee of the Southern Appala- 

 chian Section of the Society of American Foresters. 



6 This corresponds roughly to the types listed 

 by Ashe as of the Canadian Life Zone. 



