Fire Ecology and Management of Longleaf Pine
Forests dominated by longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) once covered much of the upland of the Southeastern United States. The species, one of the southern yellow pines, always has been highly valued for its high quality wood and was once the most important source of turpentine in the entire country. Forests dominated by longleaf are some of the most ecologically significant forest ecosystems of the region and support numerous endemic plants and animals.
Frequent fire is an essential ecological process for both longleaf pine trees and longleaf pine forests (Stanturf et al. 2002). Successful recruitment of longleaf seedlings requires germination on bare mineral soil that is exposed following a burn. In addition, without frequent fire, longleaf-dominated forests are invaded by fire-intolerant species (especially hardwood trees and shrubs) from adjoining ecosystems and the open, high-light understory is eventually is eliminated and ground cover species out competed, resulting in the loss of many associated plant and animal species.
Not only does longleaf pine require frequent fire, many characteristics of the species promote spread of fire across the landscape. Many other ecosystems adjoin or are imbedded in the matrix of longleaf pine-dominated forests. Fires that originate in longleaf forests often influence the structure and species composition of ecotones and the nearby ecosystems, such as adjoining hardwood slope forests. Some ecosystems, because of their small size and position in the matrix of a larger longleaf forest, experience a fire regime that is determined by the interaction between the burns initiated in the surrounding forest and the hydrologic characteristics of the embedded community, such a wet seepage savannas.
- Longleaf Pine Community Description and Distribution
- Historic Fire Regimes of Longleaf Pine
- Fire Effects on Longleaf Pine Woodland Vegetation
- Managing Longleaf Pine with Prescribed Fire
Encyclopedia ID: p152
