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The longleaf pine ecosystem is a temperate coniferous forest ecosystem found within the Southern United States. Spanning pine savannas , sandhills and montane forests , it includes many rare plant and animal species, and is one of the most biodiverse in North America . [ 1 ]
Flatwoods are an ecosystem maintained by wildfire or prescribed fire and are dominated by longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), and slash pine (Pinus elliotii) in the tree canopy and saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), gallberry (Ilex glabra) and other flammable evergreen shrubs in the understory, along with a high diversity of herb species.
These are woodlands dominated by longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and subject to frequent fires.The Atlantic coastal plain upland longleaf pine woodlands occur on uplands and on the higher parts of upland-wetland mosaics, while the east Gulf coastal plain interior upland longleaf pine woodlands occur on rolling dissected uplands, inland of the coastal flatlands.
Old growth longleaf pine stand, scorched by fire (top); longleaf pine stand after timber removal (bottom) Before European settlement, longleaf pine forest dominated as much as 90,000,000 acres (360,000 km 2) stretching from Virginia south to Florida and west to East Texas. Its range was defined by the frequent widespread fires that were lit by ...
Overgrowth shades and stunts longleaf pine seedlings, undergrowth increases, and succession creates the southern mixed hardwood forest where savanna used to be. Intentional use of fire to manage vegetation began to be accepted again after World War II, and at present about 6,000,000 acres (24,000 km 2 ) a year are burned.
Sherman’s fox squirrels rely heavily on the longleaf pine savanna ecosystem that is found in southern Georgia and northern Florida, in which the ecosystem has been a hot topic within conservation research. These squirrels are seen as an obligate species of the longleaf pine. [12]
The pine wetland savannas had scattered longleaf pine along with shrubs of sweetbay, wax myrtle, titi, and holly, and a diverse herbaceous layer of grasses, sedges, and, in some places, insectivorous plants and orchids. These wetland savannas are one of the rarest habitat types in Texas with only a few small fragments receiving any protected ...
It is a nationally important site for protection of longleaf pine savannas, pine flatwoods, and longleaf pine forests. More than 90 percent of this ecosystem type has been lost in the United States. [3] [4]