Chapter 4 Habitats
4.4.3 Spruce-Fir Forests 4.4.3.1 Ecosystem Description
Classification of the Natural Communities of North Carolina, Fourth Approximation (Schafale 2024) includes this natural community as Spruce-Fir Forests Theme with two community subtypes: Fraser Fir Forest Herb Subtype and Rhododendron Subtype. Both communities tend to have dense canopies under natural conditions. A variety of distinctive shrubs and herbs, many of them more common in the northern United States, but some endemic to the southern Appalachians, occur beneath the canopy. Lush beds of moss and ferns cover the rocky soil and abundant fallen logs in some areas. These forests are dominated by Red Spruce and Fraser Fir and occur on the high mountain tops in western North Carolina, generally over 5,500 feet in elevation. The cold climate of the high elevations is equivalent in some ways to the boreal forests of Canada. However, the climate differs from the north in that it is less continuously cold and much wetter, with both rain and fog tending to concentrate on the mountain tops (NCNHP 2024b) . Estimates of the amount of Spruce-Fir habitat are quite variable depending upon a number of factors including the estimation methods and habitat definition. The Partners in Flight Bird Conservation Plan for the Southern Blue Ridge (Hunter et al. 1999) identifies over 66,000 acres of Spruce-Fir forest in the southern Blue Ridge ecoregion and the Southern Appalachian Assessment (SAMAB 1996a) identifies over 75,000 acres in North Carolina and Tennessee. The vast majority of these areas occur in North Carolina. A large suite of rare plant and animal species also occurs primarily in Spruce-Fir Forests (Schafale 2024); Appendices 3-17 (wildlife) and 3-22 (plants) provide an association between species and this habitat type. 4.4.3.2 Location of Habitat Fraser Fir forests occur on the highest mountain tops, where the Fraser Fir is the only tree species able to survive the cold, wind, ice, and storms in large numbers. Red SpruceāFraser Fir forests occur in slightly less hostile environments where Red Spruce and Yellow Birch can also persist in large numbers. Forests dominated by Red Spruce and Fraser Fir occur on the high mountain tops generally over 5,500 feet in elevation. Spruce-Fir habitats are now found within a narrow range of suitable conditions, isolated from each other and the rest of their range. There are currently six significant areas of Spruce-Fir habitats in western North Carolina, including portions of Grandfather Mountain, Roan Mountain, the Black/Craggy Mountains, the Great Balsam Mountains, the Plott Balsam Mountains, and the Great Smoky Mountains.
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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