Southern Appalachian spruce–fir forest
The southern Appalachian spruce–fir forest is an ecoregion of the temperate coniferous forests biome, a type of montane coniferous forest that grows in the highest elevations in the southern Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. The ecoregion is the highest and coldest forest type in the Appalachian range, thriving in elevations above 5,500 feet (1,700 m) where the climate is too harsh to support the broad-leaved hardwood forest that dominates the region's lower elevations. A relict of the last Ice Age, this forest type covers just over 100 square miles (260 km2) and is considered the second-most endangered ecosystem in the United States.
Spruce–fir on the slopes of Clingmans Dome
Orographic fog over the Black Mountains
Mosses dominate the spruce–fir understory near the summit of Mount Sterling in the Great Smoky Mountains.
View across the slopes of Roan Mountain showing the contrast between the dark green spruce–fir canopy (right) and the dull brown deciduous winter canopy (left)
Temperate coniferous forest
Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Temperate coniferous forests are found predominantly in areas with warm summers and cool winters, and vary in their kinds of plant life. In some, needleleaf trees dominate, while others are home primarily to broadleaf evergreen trees or a mix of both tree types. A separate habitat type, the tropical coniferous forests, occurs in more tropical climates.
A pine forest is an example of a temperate coniferous forest
Carpathian montane conifer forest, Slovakia.
Forest south of Munich
Cedrus deodara in the Western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests,
