Abstract
This study provides a preliminary assessment of 4 compartments on the Crossett Experimental Forest (CEF) being restored to old-growth-like conditions. After being partially cleared for agriculture or lumbered in the late 1910s, Compartments 1, 2, 11, and 12 were included in a combination of pulpwood-thinning and uneven-aged cutting-cycle studies for the next 50 y. Today, these compartments are overwhelmingly comprised of large
Pinus taeda (Loblolly Pine) and
Pinus echinata (Shortleaf Pine). A mixture of 22 other species comprise the remainder, primarily in small-diameter stems. Of the 139 ring-counted trees, similarly-sized Shortleaf Pines were significantly older than Loblolly Pines. Current, live-tree oven-dry biomass in Compartments 1, 2, 11, and 12 approaches 200 Mg/ha, or approximately twice that historically reported for old-growth pine. The effects of decades of conventional silviculture, the limited occurrence of fire, and a lack of pine (especially Shortleaf Pine) regeneration are conservation concerns related to this long-term study.
Keywords
loblolly pine,
Pinus taeda,
shortleaf pine,
Pinus echinata,
biomass,
old growth,
natural origin,
structure,
Crossett Experimental Forest,
Arkansas
Citation
Bragg, Don C. 2016. Overstory species composition, structure, and conservation challenges of a mature, natural-origin pine stand after decades of management. Southeastern Naturalist. 15(Special Issue 9): 16-41.
