Buffalo Mountain Natural Area Preserve

Buffalo Mountain Natural Area Preserve
Virginia Natural Area Preserve
Near Buffalo Mountain's treeless summit
Country United States
State Virginia
County Floyd County
Coordinates 36°47′45″N 80°28′37″W / 36.79583°N 80.47694°W / 36.79583; -80.47694Coordinates: 36°47′45″N 80°28′37″W / 36.79583°N 80.47694°W / 36.79583; -80.47694
Area 1,140 acres (461 ha)
Owner Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
Location of Buffalo Mountain Natural Area Preserve in Virginia

Buffalo Mountain Natural Area Preserve is a 1,140-acre (4.6 km2) Natural Area Preserve located in Floyd County, Virginia.[1]

The preserve covers the summit and slopes of Buffalo Mountain, a 3,960-foot (1,210 m) peak in southwest Virginia.[2] It is open to the public and includes a small parking area from which an approximately one-mile-long (1.6 km) trail may be traversed to reach the summit.[1]

The treeless summit is home to rare plant species including three-toothed cinquefoil and Rocky Mountain woodsia; other rare plants, such as bog bluegrass and large-leaved grass-of-Parnassus, are found at seeps along the mountain's base. In total, the preserve protects thirteen rare plant occurrences, three rare animal occurrences, and six significant natural communities.[1] Buffalo Mountain is also the only place in the world where the mealybug Puto kosztarabi is known to live.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Buffalo Mountain Natural Area Preserve". Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  2. "Buffalo Mountain". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  3. Miller, Douglass R.; Miller, Gary L. (October 30, 1993). "A new species of Puto and a preliminary analysis of the phylogenetic position of the Puto group within the Coccoidea (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae)" (PDF). Jeffersonia (4): 9. ISSN 1061-1878. Retrieved July 3, 2016.


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