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A3129 Pinus echinata - Pinus taeda - Quercus stellata Forest Alliance

Type Concept Sentence: Members of this alliance are dry or possibly dry-mesic mixed pine-oak forests of the West Gulf Coastal Plain. Composition may be variable among Pinus echinata and Pinus taeda, with a variety of possible Quercus species, including Quercus alba, Quercus falcata, and Quercus stellata, as well as Carya texana. A number of shrub and herbaceous species are usually present which are intermediate in moisture preference.

Common (Translated Scientific) Name: Shortleaf Pine - Loblolly Pine - Post Oak Forest Alliance

Colloquial Name: West Gulf Coastal Plain Shortleaf Pine - Post Oak Forest

Hierarchy Level:  Alliance

Type Concept: This alliance includes stands of dry or possibly dry-mesic mixed pine-oak vegetation in the West Gulf Coastal Plain west of the Mississippi River. Examples are dominated by Pinus echinata or Pinus taeda either solely or in combination, with a diagnostic component of Quercus stellata. Other species which may be locally important in the overstory include Quercus marilandica, Quercus falcata, Carya texana, and Carya tomentosa. A number of shrub and herbaceous species are usually present which are intermediate in moisture preference. This vegetation was historically subject to frequent fires which created relatively open, woodland structure and in some case species-rich understories. Most current examples have been fire-suppressed for varying time periods and consequently are more densely wooded and believed to be less species-rich than historically.

Diagnostic Characteristics: These are dry to dry-mesic mixed pine-oak forests of the West Gulf Coastal Plain.

Rationale for Nominal Species or Physiognomic Features: No Data Available

Classification Comments: This alliance has an overall more dry to dry-mesic species composition than the loblolly pine - oak forests of ~Pinus taeda - Quercus alba / Viburnum spp. Forest Alliance (A3130)$$. In regard to the floristic distinctiveness of G013 and its alliances (A3129, A3130), the available data do not reveal any specifically diagnostic or differential species in relation to similar alliances in groups from other parts of the southern coastal plains (Atlantic and East Gulf). There are, however, diagnostic and differential species that distinguish these alliances from one another. This alliance (A3129) and the related A3130 represent vegetation restricted to the West Gulf Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States. They are more geographically constrained than the former alliances, parts of which they replace.

Similar NVC Types: No Data Available
note: No Data Available
Physiognomy and Structure: Associations in this alliance include both forests and woodlands. All types tend to take on relatively open aspects even when forested, presumably due to edaphic conditions. Many of the overstory pine trees have curved and twisted trunks due to shrink-swell soil properties. In natural conditions, under historically frequent fire regimes, all types were probably open woodlands, with open understories and sparse shrub layers.

Floristics: Stands of this alliance are dominated by Pinus echinata or Pinus taeda either solely or in combination, with a diagnostic component of Quercus stellata. Other species which may be locally important in the overstory include Quercus alba, Quercus marilandica, Quercus falcata, Carya texana, and Carya tomentosa (= Carya alba). A number of shrub and herbaceous species are usually present which are intermediate in moisture preference. The nominal shrub taxa in the component associations include Cornus drummondii, Crataegus spp., Juniperus virginiana var. virginiana, and Vaccinium arboreum; a typical herb is Dichanthelium sphaerocarpon.

Dynamics:  This vegetation was historically subject to frequent fires which created relatively open, woodland structure and in some case species-rich understories. In some examples Pinus echinata is believed to have been the historical dominant, although Pinus taeda may have been important in some areas and is frequently important in existing examples. It is believed that past land-use practices and alteration of fire regimes may have allowed the relative percentage of Pinus taeda to increase in many of these examples. However, some other components are believed to have naturally contained more Pinus taeda than Pinus echinata.
Environmental Description:  Associations in this alliance most often occur on clay soils, ranging in pH from acidic to somewhat basic. Examples known in eastern Texas, where most documented examples occur, are found on vertic Alfisols on the Yegua, Caddell, Manning, and Fleming geologic formations. These soils have shallow, loamy surface textures above a substantial clay subsurface with shrink-swell properties. Surface pH tends to be acidic (5.1-5.5), and in many cases (although not all) levels of calcium and magnesium are quite high. The availability of these important nutrients for plant growth is unknown. Harcombe et al. (1993) point out that vegetation growing on clayey soils may exhibit physiological stress much like that of deep sands from the Yegua Formation including the Moswell and Herty series. One association occurs on calcareous clays in parts of the region.
Geographic Range: Vegetation of this alliance is found in the West Gulf Coastal Plain and Upper West Gulf Coastal Plain, from Arkansas and Louisiana west to Oklahoma and Texas.

Nations: US

States/Provinces:  AR, LA, OK, TX


Confidence Level: Low

Confidence Level Comments: No Data Available
Grank: GNR

Greasons: No Data Available
Type Name Database Code Classification Code
Class 1 Forest & Woodland Class C01 1
Subclass 1.B Temperate & Boreal Forest & Woodland Subclass S15 1.B
Formation 1.B.2 Cool Temperate Forest & Woodland Formation F008 1.B.2
Division 1.B.2.Na Eastern North American Forest & Woodland Division D008 1.B.2.Na
Macrogroup 1.B.2.Na.1 White Oak - Southern Red Oak - Shortleaf Pine Forest & Woodland Macrogroup M016 1.B.2.Na.1
Group 1.B.2.Na.1.g Loblolly Pine - Shortleaf Pine - Oak species Forest & Woodland Group G013 1.B.2.Na.1.g
Alliance A3129 Shortleaf Pine - Loblolly Pine - Post Oak Forest Alliance A3129 1.B.2.Na.1.g
Association CEGL002112 Loblolly Pine - Post Oak / Hawthorn species Woodland CEGL002112 1.B.2.Na.1.g
Association CEGL004713 Shortleaf Pine - Loblolly Pine - (White Oak, Southern Red Oak, Post Oak) Forest CEGL004713 1.B.2.Na.1.g
Association CEGL007499 Shortleaf Pine - Loblolly Pine - Post Oak - Black Hickory / Farkleberry Woodland CEGL007499 1.B.2.Na.1.g
Association CEGL007528 Loblolly Pine - (Shortleaf Pine) - Southern Red Oak - Black Hickory / Farkleberry Forest CEGL007528 1.B.2.Na.1.g
Association CEGL007798 Shortleaf Pine - Loblolly Pine - Post Oak / Eastern Red-cedar / Roughleaf Dogwood Woodland CEGL007798 1.B.2.Na.1.g
Association CEGL007800 Shortleaf Pine - Post Oak - Southern Red Oak - Black Hickory Woodland CEGL007800 1.B.2.Na.1.g
Association CEGL007868 Post Oak - Black Hickory - (Longleaf Pine) / Longleaf Woodoats - Early Buttercup Woodland CEGL007868 1.B.2.Na.1.g
Association CEGL007900 Post Oak - Blackjack Oak - Loblolly Pine Jackson Acidic Clay Woodland CEGL007900 1.B.2.Na.1.g
Association CEGL007947 Shortleaf Pine - (Loblolly Pine) - Southern Red Oak / Round-fruit Witchgrass Forest CEGL007947 1.B.2.Na.1.g
Concept Lineage: parts of A.2011, A.394, A.404

Predecessors: No Data Available

Obsolete Names: No Data Available

Obsolete Parents: No Data Available
Synonomy: No Data Available
Concept Author(s): M. Pyne, in Faber-Langendoen et al. (2013)

Author of Description: M. Pyne and R.E. Evans

Acknowledgements: We have incorporated significant descriptive information previously compiled by Rob Evans and Judy Teague.

Version Date: 01-08-14
  • Faber-Langendoen, D., J. Drake, M. Hall, G. Kittel, S. Menard, C. Nordman, M. Pyne, M. Reid, M. Russo, K. Schulz, L. Sneddon, K. Snow, and J. Teague. 2013-2019b. Screening alliances for induction into the U.S. National Vegetation Classification: Part 1 - Alliance concept review. NatureServe, Arlington, VA.
  • Harcombe, P. A., J. S. Glitzenstein, R. G. Knox, S. L. Orzell, and E. L. Bridges. 1993. Vegetation of the longleaf pine region of the West Gulf Coastal Plain. Pages 83-103 in: The longleaf pine ecosystem: Ecology, restoration and management. Proceedings of the 18th Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference. Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, FL.