Carolina Environmental Diversity Explorations

Elevations and forest types · By Dirk Frankenberg

A varied canopy

Transition to Northern Hardwood Forest

Figure 6. In late May, a northern hardwood forest can be identified by the variation in leaf colors. (Photograph by the author. More about the photograph)

The multiplicity of species in the northern hardwood forest is more easily seen in Figure 6, which is a view looking down on the forest canopy near the top of Tanback Ridge, at about 4500 feet. The trees that make up this mosaic of colors — and the more famous fall colors as well — include three different maples (sugar, striped and mountain), northern red oak, American beech, yellow birch, and yellow buckeye.

Definitions

hardwood n.
Broad-leaved, flower-bearing trees or their timber. Hardwood trees are deciduous trees, except in the warmest regions. [more]
canopy n.
The uppermost layer in a forest, formed by the crowns of the trees.
mosaic n.
A patchwork of vegetation communities within a landscape as determined by environmental conditions, usually associated with varying colors; for example, in the fall when the leaves change color in the trees, you get a forest mosaic.