Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Great Smoky Mountains is world renown for its biological diversity, and the most diverse park in the National Park system. Biological diversity, or ‘biodiversity’, means the number and variety of different types of animals, plants, fungi, and other organisms in a location or habitat. Encompassing over 800 square miles in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, no other area of equal size in a temperate climate can match the park’s amazing diversity. Over 19,000 species have been documented in the park and scientists believe an additional 80,000-100,000 species may live here. The 522,427 acre park straddles the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. [Source: National Park Service]

Photo by Greg Low

Environmental Diversity

Ecosystem Diversity

Species Richness

Human Modification

Vegetation Condition

Resilience

Conservation Management

90

38

94

67

33

83

82

Last Great Places Rank #65

Southern Blue Ridge Ecoregion Rank #1