DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Abies fraseri | Fraser Fir 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Fraser fir is restricted to disjunct populations at higher elevations in
the southern Appalachian Mountains of southwestern Virginia, western
North Carolina, and eastern Tennessee [2].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES11  Spruce - fir


STATES : 
     NC  TN  VA


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     BLRI  GRSM


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
NO-ENTRY


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K097  Southeastern spruce - fir forest


SAF COVER TYPES : 
    17  Pin cherry
    30  Red spruce - yellow birch
    32  Red spruce
    34  Red spruce - Fraser fir


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
At the highest elevations Fraser fir forms nearly pure stands; American
mountain ash (Sorbus americana) is usually its only canopy associate.
At mid- and lower elevations Fraser fir occurs with eastern hemlock
(Tsuga canadensis), yellow buckeye (Aesculus octandra), and sugar maple
(Acer saccharum).  Mountain maple (A. spicatum), striped maple (A.
pensylvanicum), and serviceberry (Amelanchier spp) are common understory
associates.  Shrub associates include hobblebush (Viburnum alnifolium),
witherod (V. cassinoides), redberry elder (Sambucus pubens), southern
mountain cranberry (Vaccinium erythrocarpum), catawba rhodendron
(Rhodendron catawbiense), and smooth blackberry (Rubus canadensis)
[2,21].  In red spruce-Fraser fir forests, Fraser fir typically makes up
10 to 70 percent of the relative basal area and from 20 to 90 percent of
the relative density [3].

Publications that name Fraser fir as a dominant or codominant species in
forest classifications include the following:

Ground vegetation patterns of the spruce-fir area of the Great Smoky
   Mountains National Park [7]
Vegetation of the Great Smoky Mountains [30]

Related categories for Species: Abies fraseri | Fraser Fir