Clusters of wild areas, such as the Clinch Ranger District Cluster, are important for the maintenance of biological diversity.
A natural landscape contains a blend of ecosystems—mountain slopes, moist areas, soil types, temperatures—over which species can roam in their search for mates, foraging for food, and the avoidance of predators and other stress-inducing hazards.
The construction of roads breaks up the landscape into islands which limit the free migration of forest species.
Such edge effects have been shown to minimize the diversity required for the maintenance of a rich biological habitat.

The bird population is also affected by the division of undisturbed forest into islands with edges defined by roads.
Predators of birds, such as raccoons, snakes, skunks, house cats and egg-eating crows and blue jays, are often found at forest edges.
And roads provide a pathway for Brown-headed cowbirds in their search for the location of nests of smaller birds, who then destroy  the eggs and replace them with their own eggs leaving the unwitting  owner to raise the cowbird hatchlings.

The Plateau Province is covered by a  complex forest composed of northern hardwood interspersed with conifers.
 The southern Appalachians contain more plant species than anywhere else in North America since the region was a refuge for many species when glaciers covered the northern part of the hemisphere.
 In modern times, game species disappeared after widespread hunting, but with the beginning of game management many species have begun to recover to the extent that animals animals such as black bear, deer and turkeys can be found.

The watershed for the cluster contains many endangered fresh_water mussel species.
 The identified species has been reduced from 60 to about 40, with 26 listed by the Nature Conservancy as globally rare.
Clusters of wild areas, such as the Clinch Ranger District Cluster, are important for the maintenance of biological diversity. A natural landscape contains a blend of ecosystems—mountain slopes, moist areas, soil types, temperatures—over which species can roam in their search for mates, foraging for food, and the avoidance of predators and other stress-inducing hazards. The construction of roads breaks up the landscape into islands which limit the free migration of forest species. Such edge effects have been shown to minimize the diversity required for the maintenance of a rich biological habitat.
The bird population is also affected by the division of undisturbed forest into islands with edges defined by roads. Predators of birds, such as raccoons, snakes, skunks, house cats and egg-eating crows and blue jays, are often found at forest edges. And roads provide a pathway for Brown-headed cowbirds in their search for the location of nests of smaller birds, who then destroy  the eggs and replace them with their own eggs leaving the unwitting  owner to raise the cowbird hatchlings.
The Plateau Province is covered by a  complex forest composed of northern hardwood interspersed with conifers.  The southern Appalachians contain more plant species than anywhere else in North America since the region was a refuge for many species when glaciers covered the northern part of the hemisphere.  In modern times, game species disappeared after widespread hunting, but with the beginning of game management many species have begun to recover to the extent that animals animals such as black bear, deer and turkeys can be found.
The watershed for the cluster contains many endangered fresh_water mussel species.  The identified species has been reduced from 60 to about 40, with 26 listed by the Nature Conservancy as globally rare.
Clinch Ranger District Cluster