Pinus echinata Mill.

Range and Habitat

The native range of shortleaf pine. (From Little, 1971.)

Geographic Range

According to Lawson (1990) : "Shortleaf pine has the widest range of any pine in the southeastern United States. It grows in 22 States over more then 1,139,600 km² (440,000 mi²) from southeastern New York and New Jersey west to Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, Kentucky, southwestern Illinois, and southern Missouri; south to eastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas; and east to northern Florida, and northeast through the Atlantic Coast States to Delaware. In 1915, shortleaf pine was reported to grow in 24 States. Fossil pollen found in Michigan suggests that it may have once grown there."

Climate

According to Lawson (1990) : "Shortleaf pine grows in a fairly humid region but is the least exacting of the southern pines as to temperature and moisture. Annual precipitation averages between 1020 mm (40 in) on the western edge of its range and 1520 mm (60 in) at the southern tip of its range. Snowfall averages less than 41 cm (16 in) over most of the shortleaf pine range but may be twice that amount in some of the higher elevations of the Appalachians northward into Pennsylvania. The region of best development for the species is in Arkansas, northern Louisiana, and the southern Piedmont, where precipitation ranges from 1140 to 1400 mm (45 to 55 in) and averages 1270 mm (50 in). The 10° C (50° F) average annual temperature isoline closely parallels the northern limit of shortleaf pine. Over its range, average annual temperatures vary from 9° C (48° F) in New Jersey to 21° C (70° F) in southeast Texas."

Soils and Topography

Shortleaf pine can adapt to a vast array of site and soil conditions. This pine grows best on deep, well drained soils which are silty or sandy loam in texture, soils characteristic of the South Atlantic region and the Gulf Coastal Plain. The majority of shortleaf pines, however, are found growing in the moist, low organic matter Ultisols, suborder Udults. Paleudults and Hapludults are also found in shortleaf's range. Its large root system and ability to tolerate nutrient deficiencies allow shortleaf to grow on drier, less fertile soils. Shortleaf does not grow well in excessively drained, acidic soils.

Shortleaf grows at elevations from 3 m (10 ft) in southern New Jersey to 910 m (3,000 ft) in the Appalachians. Best development is from 180 m to 460 m (600 ft to 1,500 ft) in the Piedmont region.

Forest Associates

According to Lawson (1990) : "Shortleaf pine is now considered a major component of three forest cover types (Society of American Foresters), Shortleaf Pine (Type 75), Shortleaf Pine-Oak (Type 76), and Loblolly Pine-Shortleaf Pine (Type 80). Although shortleaf pine grows very well on good sites, it is generally only tempororary and gives way to more competitive species, particularly hardwoods. It is more competitive on drier sites with thin, rocky, and nutrient deficient soils. With the species' abitlity to grow on the medium and poor sites, it is not surprising that shortleaf pine is a minor component of at least 15 other forest cover types: 21-Eastern White Pine, 40-Post Oak-Blackjack Oak, 43-Bear Oak, 44-Chestnut Oak, 45-Pitch Pine, 46-Eastern Redcedar, 51-White Pine-Chestnut Oak, 52, White Oak-Black Oak-Northern Red Oak, 57- Yellow-Poplar, 70-Longleaf Pine, 78-Virginia Pine-Oak, 79- Virginia Pine, 81-Loblolly Pine, 82-Loblolly Pine-Hardwood, 110-Black Oak.

"In addition to species in the cover types, other common associates include scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea), southern red oak (Q. falcata), blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), Table Mountain pine (Pinus pungens), mockernut and pignut hickories (Carya tomentosa and C. glabra), winged elm (Ulmus alata), sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), red maple (Acer rubrum), water oak (Quercus nigra), willow oak (Q. phellos), American beech (Fagus grandifolia), and Carolina ash (Fraxinus caroliniana).* Common understory woody plants include mountain-laurel (Kalmia latifolia), flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), redbud (Cercis canadensis), persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), and eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana).

"Among the more common understory shrubs, vines, and herbaceous vegetation are blueberies (Vaccinium spp.), huckleberries (Gaylussacia spp.), deerberry (Vaccinium stamineum), Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), greenbriers (Smilax spp.), asters (Aster spp.), tick-trefoil (Desmodium spp.), tickseed (Coreopsis spp.), bushclover (Lespedeza spp.) St. Andrews cross (Ascyrum hypericoides var. multicaule), birdfoot violet (Viola pedata), sensitive brier (Schrankia spp.), early azalea (Rhododendron roseum), pussytoes (Antennaria spp.), butterfly-pea (Clitoria mariana), senna (Cassia spp.), bugbanes (Cimicifuga spp.), longleaf uniola (Uniola longlifolia), panicums (Panicum spp.), sedges (Carex spp.), and bluestems (Andropogon spp.)."

*In our experience, white ash (Fraxinus americana), not Carolina ash (F. caroliniana), is the typical associate.

Habitat Competition

According to Lawson (1990) : "Shortleaf pine is a shade-intolerant species and does not survive or grow well when suppressed. Young shortleaf pines are generally slower growing and slower to dominate a site than loblolly pine or many hardwood competitors, but they usually will endure competition longer than its common associate, loblolly pine. Shortleaf pine can maintain dominance on most sites after it overtops competing vegetation, but in general hardwoods cannot be eliminated from pine sites. On very good sites, however, it may not outgrow competing species such as sweetgum and red maple. Control of both woody and non-woody compeition usually results in economic gains.

"In young, well-stocked shortleaf pine stands, trees begin to compete with each other within a few years after establishement, and diameter growth rates decline. Even though growth rates decline, shortleaf pine persists in very dense stands. Natural pruning occurs as the canopies close, but it is slower than on loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) or longleaf pine (P. palustris). Shortleaf pine usually responds well to release, even when the trees are mature. Removal of understory competition may also increase growth rates.

"Because of its intolerance to shade and other environmental factors, shortleaf pine commonly grows in even-aged stands. Natural and artificial regeneration methods are used to establish such stands. Uneven-aged management is feasible, however, and may be an attractive alternative for small tracts of land."

Hybrids

According to Lawson (1990) : "Natural hybridization of shortleaf pine and loblolly pine west of the Mississippi River is considered to be extensive and is probably a cause of many inherent variations in the species. Such hybridization would contribute to variation among trees through creation of intermediate types and introgression towards one or both parent species. The natural variations of shortleaf pine have been the basis for selecting trees having superior qualities."

"Several artifical hybrids have been produced with shortleaf pine. They are of special interest because they offer the opportunity to combine specific qualitites of individual species. For example, shortleaf pine can be crossed with slash pine (Pinus elliottii) to yield progeny that are resistant to fusiform rust, a disease to which slash pine is highly susceptible. Shortleaf pine has been successfully crossed with slash, loblolly, longleaf, and Sonderegger pines (P. elliottii, P. taeda, P. palustris, and P. × sondereggeri). Some of the hybrids have also been back-crossed. Shortleaf pine × loblolly pine hybrids have also shown resistance to fusiform rust, have grown as well as or better than one or both parents, and have shown increased resistance to cold and ice damage. Characteristics of most shortleaf hybrids, as well as other pine hybrids, are intermeidate between the parent species. Fusiform rust resistance of shortleaf × slash hybrids, however, is closer to shortleaf pine than slash pine. The longleaf × shortleaf pine hybrid is difficult to produce and crosses have yielded only a few seedlings. These have shown "intermediate" characteristics, but seedling height growth was not delayed as it is characteristically for longleaf pine. Shortleaf × pitch pine (P. echinata × P. rigida) and Table Mountain × shortleaf pine (P. pungens × P. echinata) hybrids have also been produced and generally have intermediate characteristics."

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