en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rogers
1 correction found
Mount Rogers is the northernmost habitat of the high-altitude Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forests, which are found in only five other locations in the United States: the Great Smoky Mountains, the Black Mountains, the Great Balsam Mountains, Grandfather Mountain, and Roan Mountain.
This list is incomplete. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service says Southern Appalachian spruce-fir habitat occurs on eight sky islands, including the Unaka Mountains and Plott Balsams, not just Mount Rogers plus the five locations listed here.
Full reasoning
The sentence makes an exhaustive claim: it says Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forests occur at Mount Rogers and only five other U.S. locations, then lists those five places.
A current U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service page on Red Spruce Restoration in Southern Appalachia says the Southern Appalachians contain eight "sky islands" with this high-elevation conifer habitat, and explicitly lists:
- Great Smoky Mountains
- Plott Balsams
- Great Balsams
- Black Mountains
- Unaka Mountains
- Roan Mountain
- Grandfather Mountain
- Highlands of Virginia / Mt. Rogers
That means the Wikipedia sentence understates the number of locations and omits at least Plott Balsams and Unaka Mountains.
A second U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service story, Mapping the sky islands of Southern Appalachia, also describes the Plott Balsams as one of the Southern Appalachian "sky islands" whose tops are home to spruce-fir forests. So the article's count and list are not accurate as written.
2 sources
- Red Spruce Restoration in Southern Appalachia | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
In total, the Southern Appalachians are home to eight "sky islands"... Fraser fir and red spruce are the dominant trees at the tops of these mountains... There are eight sky islands in southern Appalachia... Great Smoky Mountains, Plott Balsams, Great Balsams, Black Mountains, Unaka Mountains, Roan Mountain, Grandfather Mountain, Highlands of Virginia/Mt. Rogers.
- Mapping the sky islands of Southern Appalachia | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
These peaks are found in a handful of mountain ranges, including the Plott Balsams. The tops of these ranges are home to cold-weather habitats like northern hardwood and spruce-fir forests... For this, these areas are often referred to as sky islands.