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The latitude-elevation relationship for spruce-fir forest and treeline along the Appalachian mountain chain

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Abstract

Spruce-fir forests extend along the Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America from 35° to 49° N. This montane vegetation differs from boreal spruce-fir forest in that it is dominated by Picea rubens, has a higher vascular species richness, has wind, rather than fire, dominated dynamics, and has a mean annual temperature above 2 °C. Using field reconnaissance, remote sensing, and literature review we described and modeled the latitude-elevation relationship for Appalachian spruce-fir. The elevation of the sprucefir/deciduous forest ecotone decreases from 1,680 m at 35° N to 150 m at 49° N, while the elevation of treeline (spruce-fir/tundra ecotone) decreases from 1,480 m at 44° N to 550 m at 55° N. Linear regressions gave latitude-elevation relationships of −100 m/lo Latitude for the spruce-fir/deciduous forest ecotone and −83 m/lo Latitude for treeline. These values compare to literature reports of −54 to −230 m/lo Latitude and are most similar to values reported from eastern Asia. The latitude-elevation relationship for eman July temperature ( −94 to −121 m/lo Latitude) was more similar to the slopes of these ecotones than is the slope for mean annual temperature ( −170 to −220 m/lo Latitude). The spruce-fir/deciduous forest ecotone was correlated with a mean July temperature of approximately 17 °C. Treeline was correlated with a mean July temperature of approximately 13 °C.

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  1. RR 2 Box 160, 05667, Plainfield, VT, USA

    C. V. Cogbill

  2. Department of Biology and North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    P. S. White

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Cogbill, C.V., White, P.S. The latitude-elevation relationship for spruce-fir forest and treeline along the Appalachian mountain chain. Vegetatio 94, 153–175 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00032629

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