Georgia Wildlife Federation

Resources < Guide to Native Plants of Georgia for Wildlife < Natural Habitats < Blue Ridge

The Blue Ridge extends from southern Pennsylvania to northern Georgia, varying from narrow ridges and hilly plateaus to more massive mountainous areas with high peaks. The mostly forested slopes, high-gradient, cool, clear streams, and rugged terrain occur on a mix of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary geology. Annual precipitation of over 80 inches can occur on the well-exposed high peaks. The southern Blue Ridge is one of the richest centers of biodiversity in the eastern U.S. Floristically, it includes Appalachian oak forests, northern hardwoods, and, at the highest elevations in Tennessee and North Carolina, Southeastern spruce-fir forests. Shrub, grass, and heath balds, hemlock, cove hardwoods, and oak-pine communities are also significant. Black bear, whitetail deer, wild boar, turkey, grouse, songbirds, many species of amphibians and reptiles, thousands of species of invertebrates, and a variety of small mammals are found here.

The mixed mesophytic hardwood forests of the Southern Appalachians are the most biologically diverse habitats in the United States. Variations of this forest type can be found in the Blue Ridge at elevations from 1,000 to 3,800 ft. They are typically found in mesic sites on concave landforms and ravines, or on protected north and east-facing slopes at low elevations. A diverse mixture of mesophytic trees dominates the canopy, including yellow poplar, white basswood, sugar maple, yellow and sweet birch, cucumber magnolia, yellow buckeye, black cherry, eastern hemlock, white ash, blackgum, American beech, red maple, and various oaks and hickories.