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Green Mountains/Berkshire Highlands

Ecoregion in Appalachian Mountains in MA, VT

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The Green Mountains/Berkshire Highlands ecoregion is characterized by relatively rugged, steep, high elevation mountains, with a colder climate and different vegetation than surrounding lower elevation regions. There are some climate, geology, physiography, and vegetation transitions that occur from north to south (e.g., slightly colder with more snow in the north; more plateau-like granitic areas in the south), although these are not dramatic changes at a national scale. The Massachusetts part of the ecoregion includes the southernmost extent of the Green Mountains, generally the highest elevations of the Berkshire Plateau. There is little evidence on either side of the Massachusetts-Vermont border for dividing the Green Mountains from the Hoosac Range and Berkshire Hills. The geology is complex, with mostly metamorphic rocks including gneiss, schist, phyllite, and quartzite. Some large areas of older, Precambrian rock also occur. While most Green Mountain bedrock is acidic, a few areas have narrow bands of calcareous rock or ultramafic serpentine rock that can affect plant distributions. Glacial till deposits are relatively thin, with many bedrock outcrops. Coarse-loamy to loamy, frigid Spodosols are typical soils. Elevations range from less than 1000 feet to more than 3000 feet, with Mount Carmel the high point at 3369 feet. Vegetation is predominantly northern hardwoods (sugar maple, beech, yellow birch), with some spruce-fir (red spruce, balsam fir, paper birch) at higher elevations (where not mapped as part of Ecoregion 58j). Montane yellow birch-red spruce forest occurs on some midslopes in the region. At lower elevations, hemlock occurs, and areas of red oak-hardwood forests.

— EPA

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