Red Spruce Forest (Protected Slope Type) - Ecological Community of Great Smoky Mountains National Park

NatureServe Unique Identifier: CEGL006152: Picea rubens - (Tsuga canadensis) / Rhododendron maximum Forest

Park Vegetation Plot Summary

Tree Canopy: Picea rubens, Tsuga canadensis

Tree subcanopy: N/A

Tall Shrubs and Saplings: Rhododendron maximum

Short Shrubs and Saplings: N/A

Herb (field): N/A

Nonvascular: N/A

GLOBAL COMMUNITY CONCEPT

These communities occur on high-elevation boulderfields, ridges and steep slopes with shallow soils above 1,067 m (3,500 feet).
- In this moist slope forest of central and southern Appalachians, Abies fraseri is a minor component or entirely absent.

This association occurs in the lower elevations of the range of Picea rubens on protected landforms.

In the Central Appalachians these are closed-canopy conifer forests dominated by Picea rubens with associates Tsuga canadensis, Acer pensylvanicum, Amelanchier spp., Betula alleghaniensis, Sorbus americana.
The variable shrub layer is dominated by Rhododendron maximum, with associates of Ilex montana, Kalmia latifolia, Viburnum lantanoides, Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides.
The sparse herbaceous cover includes Clintonia borealis, Dryopteris campyloptera, Huperzia lucidula, Lycopodium spp., Medeola virginiana, Mitchella repens, Oxalis montana.
Abundant mosses are present and include Bazzania trilobata, Hylocomium splendens, Polytrichum ohioense, Ptilium crista-castrensis, and Sphagnum spp..

PARK VEGETATION PLOT SUMMARY

N/A

DISTRIBUTION

North America:

Click map to view distribution.
Potential	Occurs

In the Park:

CONSERVATION STATUS

Global Status:

Global Conservation Status Rank: G2? (Last reviewed: 2004/09/29).
This and related vegetation types are geographically and environmentally restricted, and their former extent has been reduced to more-or-less isolated, small patches by logging and subsequent fires.
- There seems to be some doubt about the distinctiveness of this association from the similar associations (CEGL006272 and CEGL008501).

Park Status:

Picking, digging, or otherwise damaging plants is prohibited in the Park. Collection is allowed only by special permit for research or educational purposes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Field Work:

NatureServe

Supporting Institutions:

N/A

Forest Association Described By:

Web Page:

Charles Wilder.

Photographs:

NatureServe

Maps:

N/A

REFERENCES

Allard, D. J. 1990. Southeastern United States ecological community classification. Interim report, Version 1.2. The Nature Conservancy, Southeast Regional Office, Chapel Hill, NC. 96 pp.

Allard, H. A., and E. C. Leonard. 1952. The Canaan and the Stony River valleys of West Virginia, their former magnificent spruce forsts, their vegetation and floristics today. Castanea 17:1-60.

CAP [Central Appalachian Forest Working Group]. 1998. Central Appalachian Working group discussions. The Nature Conservancy, Boston, MA.

Clarkson, R. B. 1964. Tumult on the mountains: Lumbering in West Virginia - 1770-1920. McClain Printing Co., Parsons, WV. 410 pp.

Peet, R. K., T. R. Wentworth, M. P. Schafale, and A.S. Weakley. 2002. Unpublished data of the North Carolina Vegetation Survey. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Pielke, R. A. 1981. The distribution of spruce in west-central Virginia before lumbering. Castanea 46:201-216.

Schafale, M. 1998b. Fourth approximation guide. High mountain communities. March 1998 draft. North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh.

Schafale, M. P., and A. S. Weakley. 1990. Classification of the natural communities of North Carolina. Third approximation. North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program, Raleigh. 325 pp.

Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.

Stephenson, S. L., and J. F. Clovis. 1983. Spruce forests of the Allegheny Mountains in central West Virginia. Castanea 48:1-12.

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