A decline in timberland continues for several southern yellow pines

Abstract

During the last half of the 20th century, southern yellow pine (Pinus subsection Australes) timberland in North America declined by 16 million acres (3.6 million acres per decade). Declines in acreage in the South have continued in the 21st century for five pine forest types. In contrast, increases in timberland (due to tree planting) have occurred for both loblolly pine and longleaf pine. As a result of the practice of artificial regeneration, timberland for southern yellow pines (in the South) increased by more than 7 million acres since 1992. In contrast, relying on natural regeneration has contributed to a decline in natural pine stands for shortleaf pine, Virginia pine, slash pine, pond pine and pitch pine. The narrative of the decline for these specific forest types is often overlooked when data for loblolly pine are pooled together with those for seven other forest types and the total is reported as one forest type group. This article provides timberland changes that occurred in the South (1992-2012) for each of the 10 southern yellow pine forest types.