Tag: Shortleaf pine

In Arkansas, Fall Tree Roosts Help Male Indiana Bats Survive Hibernation

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
“Two resources are most important to bats in the eastern U.S.,” says U.S. Forest Service biologist Roger Perry. “Roosts – places they can safely spend daylight hours – and insects for food.” Because roosts also allow bats to sink into torpor, a state of lowered metabolism and energy usage, roosts may be as important for…  More 

Shortleaf Pine: The Future Requires Fire

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Delivery  • 
Shortleaf and loblolly pine are closely related and have always hybridized occasionally. “However, hybrids are now so common that they may threaten shortleaf pine’s existence as a genetically distinct species,” says U.S. Forest Service scientist Dana Nelson. “Our study is the first to show that fire helps maintain genetic distinctions between shortleaf and loblolly pine.”…  More 

Restoring Shortleaf Pine in the Southern Appalachians

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery  • 
On July 29-30, the Consortium of Appalachian Fire Managers and Scientists (CAFMS) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) hosted a workshop in Asheville, North Carolina, to discuss threats, barriers, and successes in relation to the restoration of shortleaf pine in the southern Appalachians. Over 80 participants from national forests and parks, state agencies, and nongovernmental organizations from…  More 

Scull Shoals Experimental Forest

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
  The 4,500-acre Scull Shoals Experimental Forest (Scull Shoals) near Athens, Georgia, has served as the site of silvicultural research studies since the 1930s. In 1959, when the experimental forest was officially designated part of the Oconee National Forest, researchers started studies on the role of fire in silviculture, the development of wildlife habitat, and…  More 

2014 Crossett Forestry Field Day, May 16-17

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Held at the Crossett Experimental Forest near Crossett, Arkansas, the 2014 field day will provide a full program for foresters, conservationists, land owners, and policy makers on the broad range of ecosystem services provided by loblolly and shortleaf pine forests of natural origin. Included in the general program on May 16 are experts in forest…  More 

As Pollen Clouds Drift in, Native Pine Trees Hybridize

by Sarah Farmer  • 
The natural range of shortleaf pine is vast, spanning 22 states. The tree grows as far south as Texas and as far north as New York, often in association with other native pines such as loblolly. Shortleaf and loblolly pines’ natural ranges overlap, although they tend to prefer different site conditions. Loblolly usually grows on moister…  More 

Shortleaf Pine: A Species Slipping Away?

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
Both shortleaf and loblolly pine are native to the southeastern United States, where the two species have coexisted and occasionally hybridized for millennia. Historically, hybrids were rare. In the 1950s hybrids made up just 3 percent of the pines in shortleaf stands, but since then their numbers have skyrocketed. Today, just two or so generations…  More 

Southern Pine Beetle Impacts on Forests

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Shortleaf pine-hardwood ecosystem restoration following insect outbreak Research by Southern Research Station (SRS) scientists shows that the impacts of recent outbreaks of southern pine beetle further degraded shortleaf pine-hardwood forest ecosystems in the southern Appalachian region. The authors suggest that cutting and burning these sites reduces heavy fuel loads, improves soil nutrient status, and opens…  More