Vegetation Classification and Mapping Project Report - USGS

USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program
Colonial National Historical Park
Alliance Pinus taeda Planted Forest Alliance (A.99)
Alliance (English name) Loblolly Pine Planted Forest Alliance
Association Pinus taeda Planted Forest
Association (English name) Loblolly Pine Planted Forest
Ecological System(s): Information not available.
GLOBAL DESCRIPTION
Concept Summary: This association represents young, monospecific planted stands of Pinus
taeda (loblolly pine). Due to the commercial value of this species, this type is widely distributed
across much of the southeastern United States from the Interior Highlands to the Coastal Plain,
including areas outside the natural range of the species. The core concept of stands attributable to
this type are those which support dense, often perfect rows of planted Pinus taeda (loblolly pine)
or otherwise dense, young stands which are established, managed, and/or maintained for the
extraction of forest products (usually pulpwood). In most cases these stands support almost no
other tree species in the overstory. Understory composition and density can vary widely
depending upon location, management history, and stand age. Stands are typically established
with mechanical planting, but may also be established through other means. This association
rarely exceeds 20-40 years of age on most timberlands. Excluded from this association are
plantation stands which have "broken up" with age or thinning to approximate a more natural
structure. Dense planting in rows, if successful, tends to result in nearly complete canopy closure
which persists until the stand has either been regenerated or transitions into a different
association. Herbaceous ground cover of any kind tends to be sparse due to reduction during site
preparation, the typically dense canopy cover, and to the fact that many young plantations are
infrequently burned at best.
Environmental Description: Environmental setting varies widely by site. Stands often occur
on level to gently sloping areas, on soils that range from dry to poorly drained.
Vegetation Description: There is considerable local variation among stands of this planted
vegetation type across its broad range (from the Interior Highlands to the Coastal Plain,
including areas outside the natural range of the species). In the Ouachita Mountains planted
loblolly is found with a variable amount of Quercus alba (white oak), Quercus falcata (southern
red oak), Quercus marilandica (blackjack oak), Quercus stellata (post oak), and Quercus
velutina (black oak); on drier sites Pinus echinata (shortleaf pine), Carya alba (mockernut
hickory), and Carya texana (black hickory); and Acer rubrum (red maple), Liquidambar
styraciflua (sweetgum), and Quercus nigra (water oak) on wetter sites. The understory can be
thick especially after thinning and/or burning. Common understory species are Vaccinium
pallidum (Blue Ridge blueberry), Vaccinium arboreum (farkleberry), Vaccinium stamineum
(deerberry), Cornus florida (flowering dogwood), Ulmus alata (winged elm), and others. Vines
are an important component, including Berchemia scandens (Alabama supplejack), Lonicera
japonica (Japanese honeysuckle), Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper), Vitis spp.
(grapes), Smilax spp. (greenbriers), and Toxicodendron radicans (eastern poison ivy). In dense
stands the herbaceous layer is suppressed by dense needle litter. In thinned and burned stands the
plantations are often grazed. Herbaceous species can include Solidago ulmifolia (elmleaf
goldenrod), Chasmanthium sessiliflorum (longleaf woodoats), Schizachyrium scoparium (little
bluestem), Danthonia spicata (poverty oatgrass), Tephrosia virginiana (Virginia tephrosia),
Lespedeza spp. (lespedezas), Symphyotrichum patens (late purple aster), Eupatorium spp.
(thoroughworts), and others. In Oklahoma, associates include Rhus copallinum (flameleaf
sumac), Hypericum densiflorum (bushy St. Johnswort), Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum) and
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