Physiognomy and Structure: No Data Available

Floristics: The canopy of this forest is dominated by both Pinus taeda and mixed hardwoods; these include Quercus alba, Fraxinus americana, Carya tomentosa (= Carya alba), Quercus shumardii, Carya texana, and sometimes some Fagus grandifolia. The tall-shrub stratum is patchy and includes canopy saplings and Ilex opaca, Ilex longipes, Ilex vomitoria, Acer leucoderme, Acer floridanum (= Acer barbatum), Crataegus marshallii, Crataegus spathulata, Ostrya virginiana, Carpinus caroliniana, and Styrax grandifolius. The patchy short-shrub stratum includes seedlings of canopy and tall-shrub species, plus Viburnum dentatum and Viburnum acerifolium, and one example in eastern Texas is dominated by Asimina triloba (Turner et al. unpubl. data). The herbaceous stratum is typically sparse but includes spring ephemerals and species dependent on mesic conditions; these include Polystichum acrostichoides, Mitchella repens, Solidago auriculata, Arisaema triphyllum, Helianthus hirsutus, Sanicula canadensis var. canadensis (= Sanicula canadensis var. floridana), Symphyotrichum drummondii (= Aster drummondii), Tipularia discolor, Spigelia marilandica, Scleria oligantha, and Dichanthelium boscii. The presence of Acer leucoderme greatly narrows the potential range of this type, especially into Texas. The exotics Lonicera japonica, Ligustrum sinense, and Microstegium vimineum may occur in this community.

Dynamics:  This is a topographically isolated community that rarely burns. It typically contains a few to an abundant number of fire-sensitive species such as Fagus grandifolia and Ilex opaca. However, historical fire regimes coincident with intact upland pine systems, and more extreme drought conditions, were likely to have subjected these areas to more fire influence than seen on the modern landscape. Insect and pathogen outbreaks are likely more important disturbance vectors in this community (Martin and Smith 1991, 1993), and are clearly so today. In the absence of fire, this type would have certainly been replaced by ~Fagus grandifolia - Quercus alba / Acer (floridanum, leucoderme) / Solidago auriculata Forest (CEGL007207)$$. This successional replacement could also have been fostered by outbreaks of southern pine beetle or other disturbances which select pine over hardwoods (such as intense windstorms prior to hardwood leaf out). Once CEGL007207 becomes established on a site, it would take a series of fairly extreme disturbances to move the type back toward pine, but small patches of mineral soil may be sufficient to perpetuate the pine component. It is unclear whether or not both types still occupy the approximate relative historical extent on the landscape. However, given the infrequency of fire on the landscape today and the poor condition of most pine-dominated uplands, it is possible that the hardwood type (CEGL007207) has actually moved upslope eventually replacing the pine habitat of this type (CEGL007524). Since this type is topographically isolated and rarely burns under current forest management prescriptions, it is difficult to envision the process by which pines are perpetuated in the canopy of this community. However, historical fire regimes coincident with intact upland pine systems, and more extreme drought conditions, were likely to have subjected these areas to more fire influence than seen on the modern landscape. Most existing examples seem to lack consistent pine regeneration, which may suggest that periodic, infrequent pulses of seedling recruitment occur (linked to rare and localized conditions which create patches of mineral soil). Given the relatively long lifespan of the pine species, such conditions need only arise on the order of once per century.