• This association was described from high elevations in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and needs further regional and national assessment.
  • It is likely that is also occurs in the high mountain areas of western North Carolina.
    
    
• This community was found on steep, mostly north-facing slopes, and on slopes and flats along and above streams.
  • These forests occur on middle slope or toe slope positions, protected by higher landforms.
  • The elevations of samples ranged from as low as 3,400 feet elevation to around 4,400 feet, but the community can probably occur as high as 5,000 feet or until Picea rubens begins to dominate.
  • Sites are rocky, often with many large boulders and talus.
  • Soils are stony with heavy litter layers.
  • This forest is affected by occasional disturbance by ice, wind, and landslides.
  • It grades into forests dominated by Picea rubens or Tsuga canadensis at higher elevations.
    
    
• This mixed forest type has an open to closed canopy dominated by Betula alleghaniensis and/or Tsuga canadensis, although either of these species may be locally dominant at a small scale.
  • Other minor canopy and subcanopy species may include Aesculus flava, Halesia tetraptera var. monticola, Picea rubens, Prunus pensylvanica, Betula lenta, and Tilia americana var. heterophylla.
    
    
• The tall-shrub stratum is over 2 m in height, very dense (50-100% coverage) and dominated by Rhododendron maximum.
  • The dense low-shrub stratum is dominated by Leucothoe fontanesiana if gaps exist in the Rhododendron maximum shrub layer.
  • Other minor shrubs can include Acer pensylvanicum, Ilex montana, Kalmia latifolia, Rubus allegheniensis, Sambucus racemosa var. pubens, Tsuga canadensis, and Vaccinium erythrocarpum.
    
    
• The ground layer is dominated by leaf litter, fallen trees, and rocks.
  • Herbaceous cover is sparse (0-5%) and is composed of scattered plants typical of middle to high elevation acid forests.
  • Some of the more characteristic species include Dryopteris intermedia, Medeola virginiana, Mitchella repens, Tiarella cordifolia, Oxalis montana, Polypodium appalachianum, and Smilax rotundifolia.
  • Additional herb species found in this community include Arisaema dracontium, Arisaema triphyllum, Aristolochia macrophylla, Oclemena acuminata, Eurybia divaricata Circaea alpina, Goodyera pubescens, Goodyera repens, Huperzia lucidula, Laportea canadensis, Monotropa uniflora, Polygonatum pubescens, Prenanthes altissima, and Viola blanda.

• This mixed forest type has an open to closed canopy dominated by Betula alleghaniensis with some stands codominated by Tsuga canadensis.
  • Other minor canopy and subcanopy species may include Aesculus flava, Picea rubens, Prunus pensylvanica, Betula lenta, Tilia americana var. heterophylla, and at lower elevations, Magnolia fraseri, Acer rubrum, Liriodendron tulipifera, and Halesia tetraptera var. monticola.
    
    
• The tall-shrub stratum is over 2 m in height, very dense (50-100% coverage) and dominated by Rhododendron maximum.
  • The dense low-shrub stratum is dominated by Leucothoe fontanesiana.
  • Other minor shrubs can include Acer pensylvanicum, Ilex montana, Kalmia latifolia, Rubus allegheniensis, Sambucus racemosa var. pubens), Tsuga canadensis, and Vaccinium erythrocarpum.
    
    
• The ground layer is dominated by leaf litter, fallen trees, and rocks.
  • Herbaceous cover is sparse (0-5%) and is composed of scattered plants typical of middle to high elevation acid forests.
  • Some of the more characteristic species include Dryopteris intermedia, Medeola virginiana, Mitchella repens, Tiarella cordifolia, Oxalis montana, and Polypodium appalachianum.
  • Additional herb species found in this community include Arisaema dracontium, Arisaema triphyllum, Aristolochia macrophylla, Oclemena acuminata, Eurybia divaricata Circaea alpina, Goodyera pubescens, Goodyera repens, Huperzia lucidula, Laportea canadensis, Monotropa uniflora, Polygonatum pubescens, Prenanthes altissima, and Viola blanda.

• This community has been documented in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee; in the Mount Rogers - Whitetop Mountain area of the Virginia Blue Ridge (Grayson, Smyth and Washington counties); on Salt Pond Mountain in the Ridge and Valley of west-central Virginia (Giles County); and on Allegheny Mountain in Highland County, Virginia and adjacent Pocahontas County, West Virginia.
  • Most likely, this vegetation type is locally distributed throughout higher elevations of the Southern and Central Appalachians.

• This community was sampled only on the Mount Le Conte quadrangle but is possible on the Cades Cove quadrangle, and certainly in other areas of the park.
  
  
• On the Mount Le Conte quadrangle, samples of this type ranged from 3,400-4,400 feet elevation and were found on lower slopes on the northern flanks of Mount Le Conte, the steep south-facing slopes southwest of Balsam Point, as well as on the north-facing slopes above the West Prong of the Pigeon River and its tributaries, Walker Camp Prong and Trout Branch, and the steep slopes above and lower slopes and flats along Alum Cave Creek.
  
  
• An historic sample from the southwestern portion of the Cades Cove quadrangle, at 3,800 feet, at the head of a cove east of High Point, may represent this community.

• Global Conservation Status Rank: G3G4Q (Last reviewed: 01 28 1999).
  
  
• This community type is naturally uncommon within its range due to specific requirements for protected, mesic sites at high elevations.
  • Most remaining examples of this community have been affected by past logging and are currently threatened with the loss of their Tsuga canadensis component due to ongoing or potential infestations by the exotic pest hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae).
  • This community type has a restricted but locally extensive distribution in the highest mountains of southwestern and west-central Virginia.
  • This association was originally described from Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
  • It needs to be compared with other associations in this alliance to determine its taxonomy, range, and conservation status.

Adams, H. S., and S. L. Stephenson. 1991. High elevation coniferous forests in Virginia. Virginia Journal of Science 42:391-399.

Eyre, F. H., editor. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Society of American Foresters, Washington, DC. 148 pp.

Fleming, G. P., and W. H. Moorhead, III. 1996. Ecological land units of the Laurel Fork Area, Highland County, Virginia. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage. Natural Heritage Technical Report 96-08. Richmond. 114 pp. plus appendices.

Fleming, G. P., and W. H. Moorhead, III. 1996. Ecological land units of the Laurel Fork Area, Highland County, Virginia. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage. Natural Heritage Technical Report 96-08. Richmond. 114 pp. plus appendices.

Fleming, G. P., P. P. Coulling, D. P. Walton, K. M. McCoy, and M. R. Parrish. 2001. The natural communities of Virginia: Classification of ecological community groups. First approximation. Natural Heritage Technical Report 01-1. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond, VA. Unpublished report. January 2001. 76 pp.

Livingston, D., and C. Mitchell. 1976. Site classification and mapping in the Mt. LeConte growth district, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Unpublished report. Great Smoky Mountains National Park Library.

NatureServe Ecology - Southeastern United States. No date. Unpublished data. NatureServe, Durham, NC.

Newell, C. L. 1997. Local and regional variation in the vegetation of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Ph.D. dissertation, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 1008 pp.

Newell, C. L., R. K. Peet, and J. C. Harrod. 1997. Vegetation of Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness, North Carolina. Unpublished report to USDA Forest Service. University of North Carolina, Curriculum in Ecology & Department of Biology, Chapel Hill, NC. 282 pp. plus maps.

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.

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