By: Eli Lamport, science reporter
Southern Appalachia is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world outside of the tropics. The region, which spans from Virginia to Alabama, is home to over 25,000 different animal species. In Virginia alone, there are more than 3,000 native plant species, many of which are found right here in the Southwestern part of the state.
There is no single reason for the unusual richness of species that is found in Southern Appalachia, instead it’s a combination of three main factors:
During the most recent ice age, glaciers reached as far south as southern Pennsylvania. As the global climate cooled, plant and animal species moved further southward to avoid harsh glacial conditions. As a result, Southern Appalachia is home to both older pre-ice-age species and newer species that evolved under modern climatic conditions.
The region has geological features that support a wide range of biomes. High topographic relief, meaning that high mountains and low valleys are found in close proximity, is a particularly impactful feature. One of the most dramatic examples of this is Mount Rogers, Virginia’s highest peak. The summit, at over 5,700 feet sits just 15 miles from valleys that dip below 2,000 feet. The high topographic relief creates natural barriers that isolate species, and this isolation causes groups of species to evolve separately from others at different elevations. Over time, this allows for distinct new species to emerge, increasing biodiversity.
Historically, Southern Appalachia has experienced a moderate rate of significant environmental disturbances like wildfires, severe storms and disease outbreaks. It’s believed that moderate disturbance is conducive to high biodiversity. Too much disturbance and only the most resilient species survive. Too little, and competition is fierce, forcing many species to extinction.
Threats to biodiversity
For millennia, these natural processes allowed for biodiversity in Southern Appalachia to soar. Now, human activity is having an undeniable impact on biodiversity in the region.
Consider the Peters Mountain Mallow, a flowering plant that is only found on a single mountainside in Giles County, Virginia. When botanists first discovered the species in the 1920s, they found roughly 50 of the plants growing on a rocky outcrop on Peters mountain, near the town of Narrows, Virginia. Researchers from Virginia Tech visited the site in the summer of 2025, and found only five plants remaining. This means Peters Mountain Mallow is now one of the rarest plants in the world.
Dr. J. Leighton Reid is leading efforts to relaunch research into the species. “For decades, researchers from Virginia Tech were studying this plant, but many of them retired or moved on, so I realized that it was a species that needed some attention,” says Reid. The primary reason for the decline in the population of these plants is a lack of wildfire. Without human intervention, forests burn at somewhat consistent intervals. Fire burns off dead brush, opens up the forest canopy, and ash recycles nutrients into the soil. Modern firefighting prevents most forest fires from running their natural course. This is particularly detrimental to the Peters Mountain Mallow because its seeds need to be burnt in order to sprout.
“I realized that it was a species that needed some attention.”
Lab testing has found that without burning, Peters Mountain Mallow seeds only sprouted 3% of the time. After being burnt, that number rose to over 90%. Reid adds that data obtained from tree rings on Peters Mountain shows that the area experienced fire roughly every two years until the early to mid 20th century.
Without fire the Peters Mountain Mallow’s habitat has become covered by a dense tree canopy, limiting the amount of light that reaches to the forest floor. The plant’s inability to sprout without fire means that the tiny remaining population is becoming increasingly inbred. A prescribed burn on Peters Mountain is scheduled for summer of 2026 according to Quin Campbell, a student researching the plant under Dr. Reid. “I was glad to hear about that burn, but there’s a long way to go,” says Campbell.
An invaluable species at risk
Another species that is being impacted by human activity throughout Southern Appalachia is Red Spruce. Red Spruce is one of the species that migrated south during the last ice age. In Virginia, the trees native habitat has been shrunk by warming climate. As temperatures have risen, these trees have been forced to move up in elevation. The colder temperatures found at high elevation makes these areas climatically similar to more northern locations. The problem is that Red Spruce is running out of elevation in Virginia.
Mt. Rogers and the surrounding peaks are the largest of only a handful of remaining habitats for Red Spruce in Virginia. Any species that is being threatened by climate change is worth studying and preserving, but Red Spruce is a “keystone species” meaning that it has an unusually high impact on its natural environment relative to its abundance.
Alex Dyer is a graduate student at Virginia Tech who is in the midst of a multi year research project on Red Spruce. Dyer explains that dozens of species rely on the uniquely shady and moist conditions found in Spruce forests. Many of the more than 50 salamander species native to southern Appalachia are found only in spruce forests. The Virginia northern flying squirrel cannot survive outside of spruce forests. The world’s smallest tarantula species, the Spruce Fir moss spider is another species that relies on spruce forest for habitat. According to Dyer, losing Red Spruce in Virginia would lead to the extinction of many other species in the state, according to Dyer.
Warmer temperature is not the only environmental factor threatening Red Spruce. Acid rain, as well as soil acidification are stunting the trees growth. A parasitic European insect called Balsam Wooly Adelgid is killing off Frasier Fir, which is a tree that frequently grows alongside red spruce. Fir trees are generally larger and more sturdy, protecting neighboring spruce trees from high winds. Without this protection, many Spruce trees are being uprooted by the wind.
Another threat to Red Spruce at Mt. Rogers is from a managed population of ponies that have grazed in Mt. Rogers State Park since the 1970s. The ponies have become a major tourist attraction in their own right. The problem, Dyer says, is that the ponies eat spruce saplings and seeds, which limits the spruce trees’ habitat in the area. Dyer says only one-third of the land that is suitable for Spruce within Mt. Rogers State Park actually has the species growing on it. “We need more discrete boundaries for the ponies to roam,” says Dyer.
Preserving samples of rare species
Equally important to research and conservation efforts is the collection of seeds and dried samples of threatened species. Virginia Tech’s Massey Herbarium is home to samples of more than 3,000 plant species native to Virginia. Many of the species found at the herbarium are threatened, including an extensive collection of the previously mentioned Peters Mountain Mallow. Dr. Jordan Metzger, the herbarium’s curator, says it’s important to collect these samples because they “illustrate impacts on the species over time from climate change or pests, and they lock away chemical and genetic information for the species.” Metzger hopes that the herbarium can help raise awareness of rare species, particularly in Virginia.
“They lock away chemical and genetic information for the species, which is invaluable in the species goes extinct”
Preserving the Peters Mountain Mallow, Red Spruce and the thousands of other rare species found in Southern Appalachia is vitally important to maintaining this region’s exceptional biodiversity. These species are part of a delicate ecosystem that is already being pushed to the brink by human actvity. Ecotourism has a significant economic impact across the region. Visitors crowd Mt. Rogers, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and countless other outdoor destinations across this region. If these areas lose their unique plants and animals, will as many people come visit? It’s a question that everyone in Southern Appalachia should consider when they look out into the mountains.
> THE NEWS FEED < 