Ecological Classification of Longleaf Pine Woodlands

Abstract

When Europeans first settled in southeastern North America and began to explore their new homeland, they found a landscape that was to a large extent dominated by open, savannalike longleaf pine woodlands. The pines were typically widely spaced, affording the traveler opportunities to see for long distances without obstruction by undergrowth. The ground layer was dominated by grasses with a great diversity of showy forbs. Vegetation of this character occurred from southeastern Virginia southward deep into peninsular Florida and west to western Louisiana and eastern Texas (Frost et al. 1986; Harcombe et al. 1993; Peet and Allard 1993; Ware et al. 1993; Platt 1999; Christensen 2000; Frost this volume).