Montane Island Plants

Montane Islands

Project Description

The Southern Appalachian Mountains are one of the most floristically diverse regions in North America and a global plant diversity hotspot. The WCU Herbarium (WCUH) and the herbarium of Highlands Biological Station (HBSH) together form a regionally significant collection of plants containing over 30,000 dried specimens. This website represents a special digital collection of montane island plant specimens from WCUH and HBSH, featuring over 1,000 specimens dating from the 1890s to the present.

Why Islands?

We use the phrase “montane islands” to describe five distinctive, high-elevation plant communities of the Southern Appalachians due to their unique habitats relative to the surrounding areas and their isolation from like communities by distance. These five community types are not necessarily the only communities that act like islands. However, the communities we have chosen to highlight here are significant contributors to the biological diversity of the Southern Appalachians, containing endemic, refugial, disjunct, and rare species. In addition, they are especially vulnerable to disturbance from climate change, human recreation, fire suppression, and pollution. The community descriptions given here are all adapted from:

Schafale, Michael. 2012. Guide to the Natural Communities of North Carolina, 4th Approximation. NC Natural Heritage Program, NCDENR, 208 pp.

Contact Information

For more information, contact:

Dr. Kathy Mathews at kmathews@email.wcu.edu

Dr. Jim Costa at costa@email.wcu.edu

Red Spruce- Fraser Fir Forest

High mountain forests in which red spruce (Picea rubens), with or without Fraser fir (Abies fraseri) or hardwoods such as mountain ash (Sorbus americana), are naturally dominant.

Heath (Shrub) Bald

Naturally, or apparently naturally, non-forested, high mountain communities dominated by shrubs in the heath family (Ericaceae).

High Elevation Rocky Summit

Communities of flat to vertical outcrops of fractured rock on ridge tops, upper to mid slopes, or other topographically exposed settings, at high elevations, generally above 4000 feet.

Grassy Bald

Naturally, or apparently naturally, non-forested, high mountain complexes dominated by grasses and sedges, sometimes with green alder (Alnus viridis var. crispa) forming a shrub layer above them.

High Elevation Granitic Domes

Communities of large rock outcrops with smooth, exfoliation surfaces with few cracks, at high elevations, generally over 3000 feet.

Funding for this project was provided by the Western Carolina University Hunter Scholar Award and National Science Foundation Project #1410439 “The Key to the Cabinets: Building & Sustaining a Research Database for a Global Diversity Hotspot”