Going up 1,000 feet is like traveling north 200-250 miles. The climate on the highest peaks in North Carolina and Tennessee mimics that of southern Canada. Besides having a variety of climates as we travel up the slopes, there are different microhabitats on each slope. Northern slopes are cooler and wetter at the same elevation than a southern slope or even an easterly facing slope. The different aspects of the slopes receive greater or lesser rainfall, and more or less exposure to the drying effects of the sun.
All effects create a multitude of smaller niches within larger ones.
The result is a stunning biological diversity. About 100 native species of trees - that is more than all of Northern Europe. Yet none as magnificent as that in the Southern Appalachians. This tree provided plentiful nuts for elk, bison, bear and deer. Today the average age of trees in the southern Appalachians is 50-90 years old.