Defining the Forests

Forests of the South are very diverse and productive. Included among southern forests are the boreal sprucefir forests of the highest mountain peaks of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the lowest bottomland hardwoods on flood-deposited soil with elevations near sea level. In between are the diverse upland hardwood stands in northerly mountainous areas of the South and southern pines and hardwnocls along the Coastal Plain. Climate of the south is p~~ed(~tiiin~uitly continental. except for the cooler Appalachian Mountains. grading t0 maritime along the coast (Schoeneberger 1995 1 . Temperatures are generally mild in winter and hot in summer (USDA Forest Service 1969). Mean maximum temperatures for January vary from the 40s (degrees F) in the mountains to the 70s in Florida. Mean minimum temperatures for January range from the 20s in the mountains to the 60s in Florida. July mean minimum temperatures vary from the mid 50s in the mountains to the 70s along the Gulf Coast and Florida. Mean maxiIIILIIII temperatures are about 90 for most of the region and slightly lower in the mountains. Mean length of the freeze-free period varies from as few as 150 days in the