The Appalachian hemlock–northern hardwood forest is a forest system found in the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

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and western

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. These forests occur in deep coves, moist flats, and ravines.

Flora

Appalachian hemlock–northern hardwood forests include yellow birch (''

Betula alleghaniensis ''Betula alleghaniensis'', the yellow birch, golden birch, or swamp birch, is a large tree and an important lumber species of birch native to northeastern North America. Its vernacular names refer to the golden color of the tree's bark. In the pa ...

''), mountain maple (''

Acer spicatum ''Acer spicatum'', the mountain maple, dwarf maple, moose maple, or white maple, is a species of maple native to northeastern North America from Saskatchewan to Newfoundland, and south to Pennsylvania. It also grows at high elevations in the sout ...

''), sugar maple (''

Acer saccharum ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and the eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the p ...

''), and beech (''

Fagus grandifolia Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted species i ...

''). These trees often form a deciduous canopy, but are sometimes mixed with hemlock (''

Tsuga canadensis ''Tsuga canadensis'', also known as eastern hemlock, eastern hemlock-spruce, or Canadian hemlock, and in the French-speaking regions of Canada as ''pruche du Canada'', is a Pinophyta, coniferous tree native plant, native to eastern North America. ...

'') or white pine (''

Pinus strobus ''Pinus strobus'', commonly called the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland, Canada, west ...

''). Other common trees include oaks (most commonly red oak (''

Quercus rubra ''Quercus rubra'', the northern red oak, is an oak tree in the red oak group (''Quercus'' section ''Lobatae''). It is a native of North America, in the eastern and central United States and southeast and south-central Canada. It has been intro ...

'')), tulip tree (''

Liriodendron tulipifera ''Liriodendron tulipifera''—known as the tulip tree, American tulip tree, tulipwood, tuliptree, tulip poplar, whitewood, fiddletree, lynn-tree, hickory-poplar, and yellow-poplar—is the North American representative of the two-species genus ...

''), black cherry (''

Prunus serotina ''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub in the r ...

''), and sweet birch (''

Betula lenta ''Betula lenta'' (sweet birch, also known as black birch, cherry birch, mahogany birch, or spice birch) is a species of birch native to eastern North America. Description ''Betula lenta'' is a medium-sized deciduous tree reaching tall, except ...

''). Mountain laurel (''

Kalmia latifolia ''Kalmia latifolia'', the mountain laurel, calico-bush, or spoonwood, is a flowering plant and one of the 10 species in the genus of Kalmia belonging to the heath(er) family Ericaceae. It is native to the eastern United States. Its range stretch ...

''), hophornbeam (''

Ostrya virginiana ''Ostrya virginiana'', the American hophornbeam, is a species of ''Ostrya'' native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Manitoba and eastern Wyoming, southeast to northern Florida and southwest to eastern Texas. Populations ...

''), and rhododendron (''

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

'' spp.) are found in the understory.

Fauna

The Appalachian Mountains are home to a vast population of

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...

, which number in the millions and are found across the region. Because white-tailed deer are so prolific, extensive, and plentiful, the Appalachian Mountains have become a hotspot prized by white-tailed deer hunters. Eastern grey squirrels, eastern chipmunks, eastern cottontails, and woodchucks are other common small animals found in the Appalachian Mountains, and they are preyed upon by larger mammals such as Eastern American red foxes,

eastern coyotes An eastern coyote in the snow near the Virginia.html" ;"title="West Virginia–Virginia">West Virginia–Virginia state line The eastern coyote is a wild North American canine hybrid with both coyote and wolf parentage. The hybridization likely ...

American black bears The American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), or simply black bear, is a species of medium-sized bear which is endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. It is an omnivore, with a diet va ...

bobcats The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus ''Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the con ...

, and

fishers Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia * Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elec ...

. Many organizations are planning to reintroduce the

elk The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. ...

back into its extirpated habitat, where they already established populations in parts of Pennsylvania. Birds are a crucial part of the Appalachian Mountains and multiple species call the Appalachians home, such species include

American robins The American robin (''Turdus migratorius'') is a Bird migration, migratory bird of the true thrush genus and Turdidae, the wider Thrush (bird), thrush family. It is named after the European robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though t ...

mallards The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argen ...

, eastern wild turkeys, northern cardinals,

Canada geese The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), sometimes called Canadian goose, is a large species of goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North ...

, and American goldfinches.

Adjacent transitions

In the north this forest type is replaced by Laurentian–Acadian pine–hemlock–hardwood forest and Laurentian–Acadian northern hardwood forest.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Appalachian hemlock-northern hardwood forest Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in the United States Ecoregions of the United States * Appalachian forests Plant communities of the Eastern United States Forests of the United States

Flora

Fauna

Adjacent transitions

See also

References