Ecoregion: Southeastern Mixed Forests
Scientific Code: NA0413
Ecozone: Neararctic
Size: 134,300 square miles
Protected Area: 3.73%
Status: Poor; Threatened and Endangered; Critical
Habitat Loss: 26.9%
Vegetation: oak-hickory-pine forests that include medium to tall broadleaf deciduous and needleleaf evergreen trees
Location/Structure: According to WWF (World Wildelife Fund), "the Southeastern Mixed Forests skirt the Appalachian/Blue Ridge Mountains, occupying the piedmont zone of the eastern United States between upland forests and the Atlantic Coastal and Gulf Coastal plains" (10). This ecoregion is considered the largest habitat within the Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests biome, crossing nine states and running northeast to southwest from Maryland to Louisiana (i.e. Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana) (10). The Southeastern Mixed Forests are demarcated from neighboring ecoregions by vegetation and elevation (the fall line of the Atlantic Piedmont) (10). Seven sections have been delineated within this ecoregion: Southern Appalachian Piedmont, Coastal Plains – Middle, Southern Cumberland Plateau, Mid Coastal Plains – Western, Eastern Gulf Prairies and Marshes, and Arkansas Valley (1).
Climate: subtropical - hot summers and mild winters, significant precipitation throughout the year
Description of Biome: Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests are a kind of temperate deciduous forests that are found between the Polar Regions and the tropics. There are four distinct layers of vegetation: "a canopy composed of mature full-sized dominant species and a slightly lower layer of mature trees, a shrub layer, and a understory layer of grasses and other herbaceous plants"(7). Due to its structure, most of its biodiversity is close to the ground.
Blue Ridge Mountains |
| http://blueridgemountainhome.blogspot.com/2011/11/fall-foliage_05.html |
Morrow Mountain State Park- North Carolina  |
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