Sky Islands – Mountain peaks and ranges at high elevation
Gary Kauffman will discuss some of the weather extremes and other characteristics of these special ecosystems, with description of important plant communities including spruce-fir, grassy balds, high elevation rocky summits, northern hardwoods, boulder fields, beech gaps, and high elevation red oak forests. This would be a discussion of the important associated species including many rarities.
Gary has been with the USFS since 1992, all in NC, working as a botanist, analyzing sustainability of harvested botanical products such as ginseng, recommending restoration of rare plants and communities, and updating forest plant revisions. He has a master’s degree in botany and has lived in western NC for the last 37 years.
–Bring a plant to share! Bring one, and get to pick one to take home. Don’t worry if you don’t have one to bring, there probably will be extras to go around.–