Appalachian/Blue Ridge Forest

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From: WorldWildlifeOrganization

The Appalachian/Blue Ridge forests consist of two major community types, corresponding to elevational gradients. At lower elevations, between 250 and 1350 m, mixed oak (Quercus spp.) forests dominate. Old-growth cove forests at mid-elevations once supported massive tulip poplars (Liriodendron tulipifera), chestnuts (Castanea dentata), red spruce (Picea rubens), and oaks. Above 1350 m, spruce-fir forests develop and dominate the landscape (Stephenson et al. 1993). Along high elevation ridges, red spruce, the endemic Fraser fir (Abies fraseri), and balsam fir (A. balsamea) dominate.

Prior to 1890. the low-elevation dominant forest system of this region consisted of mixed oak and American chestnut communities. In the early 1900's the spread of the chestnut blight, caused by the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, resulted in widespread loss of chestnut from the forest community. Chestnut trees once dominated much of the region’s lower elevation forest canopies. With its loss, red oak (Quercus rubra), hickory (Carya spp.), chestnut oak (Q. prinus), black oak (Q. velutina), locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), birch (Betula spp.), as well as red maple (Acer rubra), pines (Pinus spp.), and additional hardwood species proliferated (Whitney 1994). The decline of chestnuts was likely associated with a major loss of mast for wildlife.