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West Coast foliage is much better in my opinion. It stays green all year, not just conifers but broad lead evergreens such as Magnolias, Madrones, Eucalyptus, and so many more. All are commonly planted as street trees. As are many deciduous which give spectacular fall color. The climate can also support a variety of palms and subtropical foliage. If you're looking for landscape diversity that's green most of the year, definitely West Coast. From Vancouver to the Bay Area.
Have you ever been to the Southeast or are you just considering the Northeast as East Coast?
We have broadleaf Magnolias, ligustrums, Rhododendron, Laurel, etc. that stay green all year round in addition to Pines and eastern red cedars.
Stop staying we only have Deciduous -- we have more biodiversity than you do on the West Coast.
Have you ever been to the Southeast or are you just considering the Northeast as East Coast?
We have broadleaf Magnolias, ligustrums, Rhododendron, Laurel, etc. that stay green all year round in addition to Pines and eastern red cedars.
Stop staying we only have Deciduous -- we have more biodiversity than you do on the West Coast.
I alluded to the evergreen nature of the Southern US, especially closer to the coasts, on an earlier post I made in this thread. It's a drive through a maritime forest in South Carolina, with some views attached. https://www.city-data.com/forum/60180939-post12.html
The evergreen nature of the Eastern US, as found in the SE US, is often underemphasized in the context of these discussions. Just look at the very poll options of this thread - it ascribes the "deciduous" quality to the East Coast, which could skew mindsets with regards to votes on the poll. In fact, you can look through a lot of geography and biome textbooks, and they'll often have deciduous forest marked up and down the entire East Coast, all the way down the Florida Peninsula!
The poster in question is merely a symptom of the mindset. One reason for this is that the forests of the Southern US were often thought to still be in a state of succession that would lead to "mixed forest" w/ heavy deciduous content, rather than being their own primeval habitats. But recent investigations have turned around the thought-process - the evergreen forests in the SE were natural, especially along the coastal plain, but multiple alterations regarding fire-suppression and such has altered the primeval species composition. The Southern/SE US is definitely more biodiverse, whether in tree diversity, as well as representation across mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, etc - but, unlike the West Coast, it was largely ignored, due to perceived lack of heterogeneity regarding geography, as well as the difficulty in accomplishing accurate biological surveys given the more extensive settlement and population history. https://www.cepf.net/stories/announc...-coastal-plain
The east coast is more weedy and thorny, I grew up and Alabama and live in Colorado now. We don't really have all the weeds and thorns out here, you can walk through the deciduous forests.
The east coast is more weedy and thorny, I grew up and Alabama and live in Colorado now. We don't really have all the weeds and thorns out here, you can walk through the deciduous forests.
I believe it depends on how disturbed that particular forest in Alabama was. More disturbed areas along forest edges, river banks, reclamations of clear-cut land, etc will have more sunlight coming through to create a preponderance of weedy, thorny, shrubby vegetation. The older, more intact forest would have taller canopy trees that preclude sunlight to the forest floor, making it clearer and easier to walk through.
Have you ever been to the Southeast or are you just considering the Northeast as East Coast?
We have broadleaf Magnolias, ligustrums, Rhododendron, Laurel, etc. that stay green all year round in addition to Pines and eastern red cedars.
Stop staying we only have Deciduous -- we have more biodiversity than you do on the West Coast.
The 2 most diverse spots of the US are the Smoky Mountains and the Rouge River / Siskiyou Mountains of N. California and Southern Oregon. The west coast has a lot of diversity, it just really drops off once you get into the Rockies and Great Basin where it's cold, unpredictable, and dry, meaning not many species can survive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Denverpro
The east coast is more weedy and thorny, I grew up and Alabama and live in Colorado now. We don't really have all the weeds and thorns out here, you can walk through the deciduous forests.
I just moved from CO to Georgia and my first thought walking through the forest was 'oh wow, I can actually walk through the forest without hitting acres and acres of downfall! Stuff doesn't grow as thick in CO, but it doesn't rot either.
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