• This community is known from the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, where it occurs on high-elevation landslide scars, cliffs, rock outcrops, and summits.
  • Slopes can be extremely steep (landslide scars and cliffs) or relatively flat (summits and ledges).
  • This community occurs mostly above 6,000 feet elevation but can occur as low as 4,500 feet.
  • It is most often associated with exposed outcrops of Anakeesta slate and has very sparse to moderate vegetative cover, made up of grasses, forbs and shrubs rooted in rock fissures.
  • These extreme habitats may have up to 80% exposed bedrock and talus, and often have seepage inclusions.
  • Occurrences can range in size from 25 square m to 2.5 ha (one acre).
  • This community occurs in a matrix of Picea rubens - Abies fraseri forest.
    
    
• Composition and vegetative coverage vary from site to site, but common dominants include the herbs Calamagrostis cainii, Carex debilis, Carex misera, and Saxifraga michauxii, and the shrubs Diervilla sessilifolia, Rhododendron carolinianum, and Rubus canadensis.
  • Other typical species include Ageratina altissima var. roanensis, Oclemena acuminata, Athyrium filix-femina, Danthonia compressa, Dennstaedtia punctilobula, Gentiana linearis, Rugelia nudicaulis, Saxifraga michauxii, and Solidago glomerata.
    
    
• Other woody species found in this community include Abies fraseri, Betula alleghaniensis, Picea rubens, Leiophyllum buxifolium, Menziesia pilosa, Prunus pensylvanica, Rhododendron catawbiense, Sorbus americana, and Vaccinium erythrocarpum.

• This community has very sparse to moderate vegetative cover made up of grasses, forbs and shrubs rooted in rock fissures.
  • These extreme habitats may have up to 80% exposed bedrock and talus and often have seepage inclusions. Occurrences can range in size from 25 square meters to over an acre.
  • This community occurs in a matrix with Picea rubens - Abies fraseri Forest.
    
    
• Composition and vegetative coverage vary from site to site, but common dominants include the herbs Calamagrostis cainii, Carex debilis, Carex misera, and Saxifraga michauxii, and the shrubs Diervilla sessilifolia, Rhododendron carolinianum, and Rubus canadensis.
  • Other typical species include Ageratina altissima var. roanensis, Oclemena acuminata, Athyrium filix-femina, Danthonia compressa, Dryopteris campyloptera, Gentiana linearis, Rugelia nudicaulis, Saxifraga michauxii, and Solidago glomerata.
    
    
• Other woody species found in this community include Abies fraseri, Betula alleghaniensis, Picea rubens, Leiophyllum buxifolium, Menziesia pilosa, Prunus pensylvanica, Rhododendron catawbiense, Sorbus americana, and Vaccinium erythrocarpum.

• This community is known from the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

• This community does not occur on the Cades Cove quadrangle.
  
  
• This community was sampled or observed on the Mount Le Conte quadrangle on the high slopes and summits of Mount Le Conte and in the vicinity of Mount Kephart and has not been seen in any other part of the park as part of this project..

• Global Conservation Status Rank: G1 (Last reviewed: 02 15 1999).
  
  
• This rock outcrop community is known only from outcrops of Anakeesta slate in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.
  • This community is naturally rare, representing a tiny fraction of the high-mountain landscape.
  • It is known from only a few occurrences.
  • Atmospheric deposition of air pollutants may have an adverse effect on these high-elevation communities.
  • It is a fragile community and can be damaged by trampling in areas of high recreational use.

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.

Boetsch, J. R. Personal communication. Botanist. National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Feldcamp, S. M. 1984. Revegetation of upper elevation debris slide scars on Mt. LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. M.S. thesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. 106 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.

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

Wiser, S. K. 1993. Vegetation of high-elevation rock outcrops of the southern Appalachians: Composition, environmental relationships, and biogeography of communities and rare species. Ph.D. dissertation, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 271 pp.

Wiser, S. K., R. K. Peet, and P. S. White. 1996. High-elevation rock outcrop vegetation of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Journal of Vegetation Science 7:703-722.