Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests
| Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests | |
|---|---|
View from the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina
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| Ecology | |
| Biome | Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests |
| Borders | Northeastern coastal forests, Allegheny Highlands forests, Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests and Southeastern mixed forests |
| Bird species | 194 |
| Mammal species | 73 |
| Geography | |
| Area | 159,300 km2 (61,500 sq mi) |
| Country | United States |
| States | |
| Conservation | |
| Habitat loss | 27.1% |
| Protected | 18.6% |
The Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests is an ecoregion in the Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Biome, in the Eastern United States. The ecoregion is located in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains, including the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians and the Blue Ridge Mountains. It covers an area of about 61,500 square miles (159,000 km2) in: northeast Alabama and Georgia, eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and central West Virginia and Pennsylvania; and small extensions into Kentucky, New Jersey, and New York.
They are one of the world's richest temperate deciduous forests in terms of biodiversity; there are an unusually high number of species of both flora and fauna, as well as a high number of endemic species. The reasons for this are the long-term geologic stability of the region, its long ridges and valleys which serve both as barrier and corridors, and their general north-south alignment which allowed habitats to shift southward during ice ages. The mountains also contain a large variety of diverse landscapes, microclimates and soils all constituting microhabitats allowing many refugia areas and relict species to survive and thrive.
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