Wildlife and Forest Communities

Abstract

The diversity of plant and animal communities in the South ranges from high elevation forests to coastal wetlands, barrier islands, and arid regions of west Texas. Factors contributing to the diversity of these communities include regional gradients in climate, geologic and edaphic site conditions, topographic variation, and natural disturbance processes (Boyce and Martin 1993, Delcourt and others 1993, Healy 1985). These factors have contributed to the diversity of several species groups: salamanders, snakes, and turtles (White and others 1998). Throughout the South, the evolution of plants and animals combines with the isolation that characterizes some habitats to produce many pockets of endemism. Endemic species are unique to a given geographic area or locale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmopolitan_ distribution); physical, climatic, and biological factors can contribute to endemism.

Parent Publication

• The Southern Forest Futures Project: Technical Report

Citation

Trani Griep, Margaret; Collins, Beverly. 2013. Wildlife and Forest Communities. In: Wear, David N.; Greis, John G., eds. 2013. The Southern Forest Futures Project: Technical Report. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-GTR-178. Asheville, NC: USDA-Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 341-396.