Clinch Trails Blog

Travel Topics

Blog Archives

Recent Comments

Sugar Hill: A Microcosm of Central Appalachian Ecology

Contact Information

Search

Sister sites:

• Chicken waterer
• Microbusiness ebook
• Homemade deer deterrent

Powered by Branchable.

Oak-Hickory Community: Keep on the Sunny Side

If you get lost in the forest, you can sometimes find your way home with a simple piece of information --- moss likes to grow on the north sides of trees.  The reason lies with the sun, which is not directly overhead here in the northern hemisphere.  Instead, the sun stays over in the south side of the sky, with the result that the north sides of trees tend to get a lot more shade than the south sides.  Mosses like shade, thus they live on the north sides of trees.  Actually, mosses like the east sides of trees too since that side just gets morning sun and tends to stay damp.  South and west sides of trees are usually too hot and dry for mosses to survive.

You can experience a larger example of the same phenomenon by walking up the Cliff Trail then back down the Marlene Path.  Winding up the Cliff Trail, on the east side of Sugar Hill, you will see plenty of mosses.  You will also see cove hardwood forest, a plant community that thrives on damp.  The Cliff Trail is shaded for most of the day by Sugar Hill, so water tends to stay put rather than evaporating away.

When you crest the hill and start back down the west side, the forest subtly changes as drought-tolerant oaks and hickories replace the water-loving Tulip-Trees and basswoods.  Here, the hillside is pummeled with near constant sun, so rainwater quickly dries up and leaves the ground parched.  The oak-hickory community you walk through on the Marlene Path is the most common plant community in the eastern United States, covering much of the landscape both east and west of the Appalachian Mountains.  As you can see at Sugar Hill, the oak-hickory community is also common in the mountains where it tends to stay on the south and west sides of hills and on dry ridgetops.

One word of warning, though, before you head out into the woods with only the moss to guide you.  In our hollers, I have often seen moss growing all the way around the trees.  The preponderance of moss on the north sides of trees is probably a nugget of knowledge best pulled out at cocktail parties --- when in the woods, I carry a compass and map.

Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed.