The spines of a fraser fir stands along the ridgeline of one of Clingmans dome, silhouetted by the hazy morning light. Once a large grove of firs atop the dome, they were decimated by the balsam woolly beetle with efforts to repopulate ending in failure, and led to a drastic change in the montane ecosystem of the dome. Other vegetation still survives, with lower slopes dominated by deciduous trees that shed color every fall, and whose change of color attracts tourists from all over.

Driving up from the lower valleys where the colors had just started to change, to the upper reaches where most trees were reduced to their skeletons, one can experience a wide range of biodiversity exhibited by the Appalachians. The landscape around continues to change, primarily by the human pressure from population centers and industries on either side of the divide. But the higher you get, the less visible those changes are.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
NC USA