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NatureServe Unique Identifier: CEGL003560: Pinus echinata / Schizachyrium scoparium Appalachian Woodland

Park Vegetation Plot Summary

Tree Canopy: Pinus echinata

Tree subcanopy: N/A

Tall Shrubs and Saplings: N/A

Herbs (field): Schizachyrium scoparium

Nonvascular: N/A

 Habitat Image

GLOBAL COMMUNITY CONCEPT

  • These fire-maintained, shortleaf pine woodlands occurred historically in the Appalachian regions of Alabama, north through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and possibly Virginia, on dry ridges and slopes or rock outcrops.
    • Almost no intact examples are known to persist, although restoration efforts are underway in the Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky, the Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia, and in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee.
    • Stands of these woodlands are dominated by Pinus echinata, with less than 25% cover by Quercus spp.
    • They may contain an admixture of Pinus virginiana or Pinus rigida.

  • This community historically provided habitat for montane populations of Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis).
    • More information is needed to characterize and distinguish this community.

  • The canopy can range from an open forest to woodland structure.

  • The understory is open and dominated by graminoids and forbs.

PARK VEGETATION PLOT SUMMARY

N/A

DISTRIBUTION

North America:
  • This association occurred historically in the Appalachian regions of Alabama, north through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and possibly Virginia.
    • Restoration efforts are underway in Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
 Click here for NA range map
 
In the Park:
Click here for GRSMNP Range Map

CONSERVATION STATUS

Global Status:

  • Global Conservation Status Rank: G2 (Last reviewed: 10 23 2002).

  • This community is naturally rare in the Appalachians, where shortleaf pine communities are uncommon.
    • It is a fire-maintained community, and most remaining acreage is fire-suppressed with little compositional similarity to historic vegetation.
    • Shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) populations seem to have undergone rangewide declines in vigor and extent.
    • This phenomenon is primarily due to changes in fire regime and to depredations of the Southern Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis).
    • Stands are threatened by the effects of continued fire suppression, which would inhibit the reproduction of Pinus echinata.

Park Status:

Picking, digging, or otherwise damaging plants is prohibited in the Park. Collection is allowed only by special permit for research or educational purposes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Field Work:

NatureServe

Supporting Institutions:

N/A

Forest Association Described By:

K.D. Patterson

Web Page:

Charles Wilder.

Photographs:

NatureServe

Maps:

N/A

REFERENCES

Campbell, Julian J. N. Personal communication. Kentucky Field Office, The Nature Conservancy.

Dellinger, Bob. Personal communication. Ecologist. USDI National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, TN.

NatureServe Ecology - Southeastern United States. No date. Unpublished data. NatureServe, Durham, NC.

Peet, R. K., T. R. Wentworth, M. P. Schafale, and A.S. Weakley. 2002. Unpublished data of the North Carolina Vegetation Survey. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Southeastern Ecology Working Group of NatureServe. No date. International Ecological Classification Standard: International Vegetation Classification. Terrestrial Vegetation. NatureServe, Durham, NC.

Wooster, Keith. Personal communicaiton. Biologist. U.S. Forest Service, Chattahoochee National Forest, Chattsworth, GA.

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