Habitats of North Carolina

High Elevation Forests
General High Elevation Forests

General Description

Species composing this habitat group are associated with high elevation -- > 4,000' -- forests. Canopy composition itself is not a deciding factor and the forests can include either pure stands of Spruce-Fir Forest or Northern Hardwood Forest or a mixture of the two. Cool temperatures and high moisture content are critical factors and having a dense forest canopy overhead helps maintain those conditions. Abundant leaf litter and fallen logs on the forest floor are also key habitat features and are again associated with forest cover, as are the mosses and lichens that thrive in dense shade.

This habitat includes both mixed stands of high elevation conifers and hardwoods but can also include pure stands of hardwoods, but where the associated species are limited to high elevations. We do not have a separate habitat that represents Northern Hardwood Forests, since most of the species that characterize that natural community type are also found in cove forests at lower elevations (Schafale, 2012). Instead, we treat all species confined to high elevation forests -- apart from the specialists on spruce and fir -- in this habitat type.

Abiotic Factors

Biotic Structure

Co-evolved Species Groups

Determining Species

sciName	comName	g_rank	s_rank	mod_s_rank	prob_of_extirpation
BEETLES
Anthophylax attenuatus	Mottled Longhorned Beetle
Trechus cheoahensis		GNR	S1	S1	0.33330
Trechus coweensis		GNR	S1	S1	0.33330
Trechus haoe	a ground beetle	GNR	S1	S1	0.33330
Trechus haoeleadensis		GNR	S1	S1	0.33330
Trechus howellae		GNR	S1	S1	0.33330
Trechus luculentus cheoahbaldensis		G23T1	S1	S1	0.33330
Trechus luculentus joannabaldensis		G2G33T1	S1	S1	0.33330
Trechus nantahalae	a ground beetle	GNR	S1	S1	0.33330
Trechus satanicus	a ground beetle	GH G1	S1	S1	0.33330
Trechus snowbirdensis		GNR	S1	S1	0.33330
Trechus stefanschoedli		GNR	S1	S1	0.33330
Trechus thomasbarri		GNR	S1	S1	0.33330
Trechus thunderheadensis		GNR	S1	S1	0.33330
Trechus tobiasi		GNR	S1	S1	0.33330
Trechus toxawayi		GNR	S1	S1	0.33330
Trechus tusquitensis		GNR	S1	S1	0.33330
Trechus wayahbaldensis		GNR	S1	S1	0.33330
Trechus luculentus wayahensis	a ground beetle	G2G33T2	S1S2	S1S2	0.11107
Trechus talequah	a ground beetle	GNR	S1S2	S1S2	0.11107
Trechus tusquitee	a ground beetle	GNR	S1S2	S1S2	0.11107
Trechus subtilis	a ground beetle	GH G1	S1S3	S1S3	0.03699
Trechus vandykei pisgahensis		GNR	S2S3	S2S3	0.01230
Trechus vandykei vandykei		GNR	S2S3	S2S3	0.01230
Trechus barberi	a ground beetle	GNR	S3S4	S3S4	0.00132
Trechus inexpectatus	a ground beetle	GNR	SH	SH
Trechus aduncus		GNR	SHS1	SHS1
Trechus caliginis	a ground beetle	GNR GHG1	SHS1	SHS1
Trechus hydropicus avus	a ground beetle	GNRTNR	SHS1	SHS1
Trechus schwarzi scopulosus	a ground beetle	GNRTNR	SHS1	SHS1
Trechus schwarzi schwarzi	a ground beetle	GNR	SHS2	SHS2
Trechus hydropicus beutenmuelleri	a ground beetle	GNRTNR	SHS3	SHS3
BIRDS
Aegolius acadicus	Northern Saw-whet Owl	G5	S2	S2	0.03699
Certhia americana	Brown Creeper	G5	S3	S3	0.00407
Regulus satrapa, summer				S3S4	0.00132
FERNS
Dryopteris campyloptera	Mountain Wood-fern	G5	S3	S3	0.00407
FORBS
Trillidium undulatum	Painted Trillium
Streptopus amplexifolius	White Mandarin	G5	S1	S1	0.33330
Circaea alpina	Small Enchanter's Nightshade	G5	S3	S3	0.00407
Circaea alpina ssp. alpina	Alpine Enchanter's-nightshade	G5T5	S3	S3	0.00407
Eurybia chlorolepis	Blue Ridge White Heart-leaved Aster	G4	S3	S3	0.00407
Oxalis montana	White Wood-sorrel	G5	S3	S3	0.00407
Rugelia nudicaulis	Rugel's Ragwort	G3	S3	S3	0.00407
Streptopus lanceolatus	Rosy Twisted-stalk	G5	S3	S3	0.00407
Clintonia borealis	Clinton Lily	G5	S4	S4	0.00041
Oclemena acuminata	Whorled Aster, Whorled Nodding-aster	G5	S4	S4	0.00041
Neottia cordata	Heartleaf Twayblade	G5	SH	SH
GRAMINOIDS
Cinna latifolia	Slender Wood-reed	G5	S1S2	S1S2	0.11107
HARDWOODS
Populus tremuloides	Quaking Aspen	G5	S1	S1	0.33330
Populus grandidentata	Bigtooth Aspen	G5	S2	S2	0.03699
Acer spicatum	Mountain Maple	G5	S3	S3	0.00407
Sorbus americana	American Mountain-ash	G5	S3	S3	0.00407
HARVESTMEN
Sabacon mitchelli		GNR	S1S2	S1S2	0.11107
MAMMALS
Glaucomys sabrinus	Northern Flying Squirrel	G5	S2	S2	0.03699
Sorex dispar	Long-tailed Shrew	G4	S3	S3	0.00407
Moths
Clepsis persicana	White Triangle Tortrix
MOTHS
Arctia caja	Garden Tiger Moth, Great Tiger Moth	G5	S1	S1	0.33330
Korscheltellus gracilis	Conifer Swift Moth	GNR	S1S2	S1S2	0.11107
Lithophane georgii	a pinion moth	G5	S1S2	S1S2	0.11107
Platarctia parthenos	St. Lawrence Tiger Moth	G5	S1S2	S1S2	0.11107
Aplectoides condita		G4	S2S3	S2S3	0.01230
Dysstroma citrata	Dark Marbled Carpet Moth	G5	S2S3	S2S3	0.01230
Eueretagrotis sigmoides	Sigmoid Dart Moth	G5	S2S3	S2S3	0.01230
Eupithecia tripunctaria		G5	S2S3	S2S3	0.01230
Pachypolia atricornis	Three-horned Sallow	G3G4	S2S3	S2S3	0.01230
Perizoma basaliata	Square-patched Carpet Moth	G5	S2S3	S2S3	0.01230
Rheumaptera hastata	Spear-marked Black Moth	G5	S2S3	S2S3	0.01230
Diarsia rubifera	Red Dart	G5	S2S4	S2S4	0.00407
Dysstroma truncata	Marbled Carpet	GNR	S3	S3	0.00407
Anaplectoides brunneomedia	Brown-lined Dart Moth	G4	S3S4	S3S4	0.00132
Anaplectoides prasina	Green Arches Moth	G5	S3S4	S3S4	0.00132
Eueretagrotis perattentus	Two-spot Dart Moth	G5	S3S4	S3S4	0.00132
Venusia cambrica	Welsh Wave	G5	S3S4	S3S4	0.00132
SALAMANDERS
Desmognathus organi	Northern Pygmy Salamander	G3	S2	S2	0.03699
Desmognathus wrighti	Pygmy Salamander	G3	S2	S2	0.03699
SHRUBS
Sambucus racemosa	Red Elderberry	G5	S3	S3	0.00407
Viburnum lantanoides	Hobblebush, Witch's-hobble, Tangle-legs	G5	S4	S4	0.00041
VINES
Rubus idaeus	European Red Raspberry	G5T5	SNA	SNA
Nr = Number of Ranked Species = 75
Ner = Number of Extant, Ranked Species = 66
Nv = Number of Historic and Extirpated Species = 2
Nar = Number of Species at Risk of Extirpation (State rank > S5) = 66
Nss = Number of Secure Species (State Rank = S5) = 0
Pss = Proportion of Secure Species (Nss/Ner) = 0.00000
ENE = Expected Number of Extirpations (Sum of PE) = 7.95333
Average PE (ENE/Ner) = 0.12051
Habitat Risk Index = (Nar+Nv) x Average PE = 68 x 0.12051 = 8.19468

Estimated Risk to the Determining Species

Estimated Risk to the Co-evolved Species Groups

Estimated Security of the Habitat

Index of Habitat Imperilment

Identified Risks

Observed Trends

Distribution Map

Distribution

Major Conservation Reserves

Priority Areas for Surveys and Conservation Protection

Stewardship and Management Recommendations

References

Haas, I., 2016. Habitat Use of Northern Pygmy Salamander (Desmognathus organi) and Southern Pygmy Salamander (D. wrighti) in North Carolina. 2016 NCUR. Accessible online at: https://www.ncurproceedings.org/ojs/index.php/NCUR2016/article/download/1674/882

Updated on

2019-10-27 19:25:45