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The longleaf pine forest: trends and current conditions

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) ecosystems once occupied perhaps as much as 60 million acres in the Southeastern United States (fig. l), stretching from southeastern Virginia south to central Florida and west into eastern Texas (Stout and Marion 1993). These fire-dependent ecosystems covered a wide range of site conditions, from low, wet flatwoods along the coast to dry mountain slopes and ridges in Alabama and northwest Georgia. Longleaf forests have been intensively exploited since colonial times, with little regard for regeneration. Intensive logging of the old-growth forest reached a peak shortly after the turn of the century (Ware and others 1993) and by 1935, only about 20 million acres of longleaf pine forest remained. The amount declined to 12 million acres by 1955 and to 3.8 million acres in 1985 (Kelly and Bechtold 1990).

Keywords

ecosystem, habitat, longleaf pine, nonindustrial private owner, resources

Citation

Outcalt, Kenneth W.; Sheffield, Raymond M. 1996. The longleaf pine forest: trends and current conditions. Resour. Bull. SRS–9. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 28 p.
Citations
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/1631