History and Biogeography
| Authors: | Corinne A. Diggins, Charles V. Cogbill, Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy |
| Year: | 2026 |
| Type: | Book Chapter |
| Station: | Northern Research Station |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-19616-3_1 |
| Source: | Ecology and Restoration of Red Spruce Ecosystems in the Central and Southern Appalachians. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature |
Abstract
Red spruce (Picea rubens) is a coniferous tree native to the eastern U.S. (Fig. 1.1), ranging from eastern Canada and New England south along the Appalachian Mountains, where it occurs in disjunct populations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Red spruce-dominated forests (i.e., ≥ 50% of the canopy trees are red spruce) occur in near-boreal regions in the northern U.S. and Canada, temperate forests in the central part of their range, and montane sky islands in the southern part of their range. Temperature and moisture drive the distribution of red spruce, with latitudinal dynamics driving the distribution in the northern part of the range and elevational and climatic complexes driving the distribution in the southern parts of the range (White and Cogbill 1992). For example, red spruce occurs at sea level north of the St. Lawrence River and at over 1,700 m (5,500 ft) in elevation in the southern Appalachians.