Cove Forests

Cove forest

Cove forests are located at middle to low elevations in protected landscape positions. They often occupy concave landforms and protect stream headwaters. Tree canopies are dominated by mesophytic hardwoods, but conifers are often present. Coves are some of the most productive sites in the southern mountains due to high site moisture and soil fertility. These forests have high species diversity of both plants and animals. Small vertebrates, such as salamanders, birds, and small mammals, can be particularly abundant and diverse in these habitats. These forests are very similar to the mixed mesophytic forest types described by Braun (1950) in the Cumberland Mountains. However, the composition and conditions in cove forests vary a great deal with aspect, elevation, and underlying geology. The biodiversity and conservation of these diverse forest systems is affected by their landscape position.

Cove forests are often divided into "acid cove" and "rich cove" types, but many sites have communities intermediate in species composition between these two extremes. Acid coves have soils with low pH and a large component of eastern hemlock and rosebay rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum). This rhododendron can occur in impenetrable thickets commonly referred to as "laurel hells." Soil pH is positively correlated with site fertility and community diversity. Acidic soils and shade from the evergreen hemlock and rhododendron limit the abundance and diversity of the herbaceous layer in acid coves. Rich coves have the greatest species diversity of plants and animals among all community types in the southern mountains. Deciduous trees dominate these forests; rhododendron and hemlock can be present but are a minor component. The herbaceous layer is notably diverse and puts on spectacular flora displays in spring.

Trillium

Representative tree species of cove forests (derived from Clebsch and Busing 1989):

• Yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)
• Carolina silverbell (Halesia carolina)
• Sweet birch (Betula lenta)
• Red maple (Acer rubrum)
• Yellow birch (Betula lutea)
• Witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana)
• White ash (Fraxinus americana)
• Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
• American beech (Fagus grandifolia)
• Yellow buckeye (Aesculus octandra)
• Striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum)
• Basswood (Tilia heterophylla)
• Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
• Northern red oak (Quercus rubra)
• Bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis)