Forest Change in High-Elevation Forests of Mt. Mitchell, North Carolina: Re-census and Analysis of Data Collected Over 40 Years
Lusk L, Mutel M, Walker ES, Levy F. 2010. Forest Change in High-Elevation Forests of Mt. Mitchell, North Carolina: Re-census and Analysis of Data Collected Over 40 Years. Pages 104-112. In Proceedings from the Conference on the Ecology and Management of High-Elevation Forests in the Central and Southern Appalachian Mountains. Snowshoe Mountain Resort, Slatyfork, West Virginia. May 14-15, 2009. U.S. Forest Service. Newton Square, Pennsylvania
ABSTRACT: The Black Mountain range of western North Carolina supports some of the most extensive but threatened high-elevation forests in the southern Appalachians. Of particular note, the insect pathogen, balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae Ratzeburg), has been present on Mt. Mitchell for more than 50 years. In anticipation of potential changes in forest composition, vegetation surveys were first conducted in 1966 on nine 1-acre plots near the summit of Mt. Mitchell. These plots were resurveyed in 1978, 1985, and 2002. The purpose of this study was to survey those plots again and use those data to analyze long-term trends in forest composition for fir, spruce-fir, and spruce-fir-hardwood forest types. Since the 1960s and 1970s, all three forest types have experienced a transition away from an understory with a preponderance of Fraser fir (Abies fraseri [Pursh] Poir.) seedlings and saplings, to forests with higher densities of canopy and sub-canopy fir. Canopy red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) has similarly increased in density in the fir and spruce-fir types but declined in the spruce-fir-hardwood forest type. In all types, hardwood seedlings/saplings have declined sharply since a hardwood seedling explosion in 1978. The current analyses indicate that fir and spruce-fir forests have regenerated since the most severe die-offs and that each forest type will experience future impacts from balsam woolly adelgid but in a non-synchronous pattern.
- Type
- Conference Proceeding Paper
- Authors
- Lusk, Laura; Mutel, Matt; Walker, Elaine; Levy, Foster
- Units
- BLRI
- Keywords
- Abies fraseri, Adelges piceae, APHN, Appalachian Highlands Network, balsam woolly adelgid, BLRI, Blue Ridge Parkway, Fraser fir, Mt. Mitchell, Picea rubens, red spruce, SER, Southeast Region, spruce-fir forest