Natural Resources
Conservation Service
Ecological site F130AY009VA
High Elevation Uplands
Last updated: 9/27/2024
Accessed: 11/13/2024
General information
Provisional. A provisional ecological site description has undergone quality control and quality assurance review. It contains a working state and transition model and enough information to identify the ecological site.
MLRA notes
Major Land Resource Area (MLRA): 130A–Northern Blue Ridge
Major Land Resource Area 130A is in the Northern Section of the Blue Ridge Province of the Appalachian Highlands. The region is characterized by rugged mountains with steep slopes, sharp crests, and narrow valleys. The mountain range forms a narrow band that runs north to south between the Piedmont Upland Section to the east, the Ridge and Valley section to the west, and the Southern Section of the Blue Ridge to the south. Stream dissection is deep and intricate. Major streams and their tributaries flow through gorges and gaps. Elevation ranges from about 820 feet (250 meters) in the lower valleys and on footslopes along the Potomac River just east of Harpers Ferry, where West Virginia joins Maryland and Virginia, to more than 4,200 feet (1,280 meters) along the Appalachian Trail in Bedford County, Virginia. Apple Orchard Mountain, the highest peak, is at an elevation of 4,225 feet (1,288 meters) (USDA 2006).
The backbone of the northern Blue Ridge is an anticline composed of rocks that can be can be divided into geological groupings based on age. In general, the oldest rocks are the furthest east, and become younger towards the west (Fichter and Baedke, 2000; Barnes and Sevon, 2002). The first group are plutonic rocks that formed when liquid molten rock, called magma, solidified deep within the earth’s crust over a billion years ago. Collectively referred to as the Grenville rocks, they make up much of the eastern half of the mountains and are composed of granites, gneisses, and granulites. The second group, characterized by the Catoctin greenstone formation, is slightly younger, and is made up of metabasalts and metarhyolites, types of igneous rocks that have been metamorphosed by heat and pressure. The third group was formed during the Cambrian period about 500 million years ago and are represented by the Harpers, Antiedam, Weverton, and Loudoun formations which comprise the Chilhowee group. These rocks are primariliy quartzites, phyllites, and meta-sandstones, and form the western flank of the Blue Ridge.
Preliminary ecological site differentiation is based on these three main age groups and geologies. The variable characteristics of the underlying rocks give rise to different soil physical and chemical properties and exert control on the landscape, slope shape, aspect, and elevation, all of which affect vegetation.
Classification relationships
This ecological site is found in Major Land Resource Area 130A – the Northern Blue Ridge. MLRA 130A is located within Land Resource Region N – East and Central Farming and Forest Region (USDA 2006), and in United States Forest Service ecoregion M221D – Central Appalachian Broadleaf Forest-Coniferous Forest-Meadow Province, Blue Ridge Mountain Province (Bailey, 1995).In addition, MLRA 130A falls within area #66 of EPA Ecoregion Level III – the Blue Ridge (US EPA 2013). The High Elevation Uplands ecological site occurs within 66a of EPA Ecoregion IV – Northern Igneous Ridges (Woods et. al., 1996).
The Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest System – CES202.596
• Quercus rubra - Carya ovata - Fraxinus americana / Actaea racemosa - Hydrophyllum virginianum Forest Association – CEGL008518
Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest System - CES202.592
• Quercus rubra - (Quercus alba) / Ilex montana / Dennstaedtia punctilobula - Lysimachia quadrifolia Forest Association – CEGL008506
(NatureServe 2017)
Ecological site concept
The High Elevation Uplands ecological sites are located in the Northern Blue Ridge region of the Appalachian highlands. This ecological site is found on mountain slopes, shoulders, and summits formed from a mixture of geologies including gneiss, granite, granodiorite, granulite, metabasalt, phyllite, quartzite, siltstone, and slate. Elevation is generally greater than 3000 feet (914m), but can range from 2000 to 4200 feet (610 to 1281m). Sites located on metabasalt (greenstone), amphibolite, pyroxene-bearing granulite, charnockite, and actinolite schist are richer in species composition compared to those underlain by less fertile geology. The high elevation is what distinguishes this ecological site from others in the Northern Blue Ridge. Above 3000 feet (914m) the vegetation remains dominated by oak, particularly Northern red oak and white oak, but individuals may be stunted or wind-flagged. Ridgetops are exposed and soils are thin and can be nutrient poor. At one time, American chestnut may have been a prominent species, but its importance has been dramatically reduced by chestnut blight. The Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest System is characteristic of these areas (NatureServe 2009; Anderson, et. al. 2013).
Some of this ecological site has been subjected to human activity including logging, settlement, or other disturbance and is mid successional. These ruderal (growing where the natural vegetation has been disturbed by humans) forests and woodlands comprise only about 4% of the area (Landfire, 2013) and are not well described. It is assumed that a somewhat typical successional community with oak, pine, and tuliptree exists. This ecological site has not been converted to agriculture due to high elevation, steepness, and rockiness.
Associated sites
F130AY001PA |
Mixed Metamorphic And Granitic Upland The Mixed Metamorphic and Granitic Uplands ecological site is associated but generally occurs at elevations below 3000 feet (915m). |
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F130AY002PA |
Metabasalt Upland The Metabasalt Uplands ecological site is associated but generally occurs at elevations below 3000 feet (915m). |
Table 1. Dominant plant species
Tree |
(1) Quercus rubra |
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Shrub |
Not specified |
Herbaceous |
(1) Actaea racemosa |
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