Spring 2003

Membership Dollars at Work: Restoring the Longleaf Pine Ecosystem

On August 23, 2001, an agreement between the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and the Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation (Foundation) was entered into in order to facilitate fish, wildlife and plant habitat protection, restoration and enhancement on private lands in the State of Mississippi. A large part of this effort is to restore the longleaf pine ecosystem, which historically occurred throughout South Mississippi.

The Service and the Foundation have a joint full time position for South Mississippi that began October 1, 2001 to facilitate partnerships to implement specific habitat projects on private lands mutually approved by the Service, the Foundation and the landowner. This position is housed in Hattiesburg. The primary habitat focus of this field biologist is longleaf pine/pine savannas, river/stream ecosystem protection, restoration and enhancement and invasive species control and management. The secondary habitat focus is upland hardwoods, bottomland hardwoods and fisheries habitat protection, restoration and enhancement.

The Longleaf Pine Ecosystem
According to Robert Bonnie, Director of the Center of Conservation Incentives, "The longleaf pine ecosystem once covered some 74 92 million acres from southern Virginia to central Florida and west to eastern Texas. Longleaf pine currently covers less than 3 million acres, much of which is highly degraded. The longleaf pine ecosystem is characterized by open canopied stands and is one of the most biologically diverse temperate forest ecosystems in North America. Over 20 federally listed endangered species inhabit longleaf pine. Moreover, longleaf pine produces superior solid wood products, including saw timber, utility poles and other high value products."

According to Randy Browning, a Field Biologist with the Foundation and the Service, "Natural stands of longleaf have drastically declined because of numerous factors that include land clearing for agriculture and development, replacement of harvested stands with loblolly and slash pine and the overall reduction in the use of fire as a management tool. Today, residual stands of longleaf occupy less than 3 million acres of its original range. In Mississippi, longleaf pine occupies approximately 255,000 acres with the majority occurring in Forrest, Lamar and Perry counties."

Browning states that longleaf pine is a very distinctive, long lived southern yellow pine, with trees in excess of 350 years of age recorded. It reaches heights of around 120 feet and diameters of 2 ? feet. Needles can be up to 18 inches long. The root system has a very deep taproot that may reach depths of 12 feet or more. Because of this massive taproot, longleaf pines are very resistant to wind-throw. Although longleaf occurs on a variety of sites, it grows best on well drained soils.

Longleaf are unique in the fact that seedlings first develop into a ?grass stage? prior to height growth. A dense tuft of needles is all that shows above the ground and seedlings can remain in the grass stage for 3 to 6 years. During this time, the seedling produces a well developed root system. However, once height growth begins, height and diameter increases rapidly. Height growth continues until the tree is about 50 years old. After this time, most growth that occurs as diameter growth.

"Longleaf ecosystems have numerous positive attributes and several advantages over other pines when properly managed. Well managed stands of longleaf are aesthetically pleasing, can provide high levels of economic return and benefit numerous species of wildlife. Longleaf pine has potential economical advantages over loblolly and slash pine stands when managed on sawtimber-length rotations. Wood from longleaf is more dense and therefore heavier than other southern pines. Because of this, economic returns are higher for longleaf when compared to other pines on a per volume basis. Also, up to 80% of a longleaf stand can consist of poles, which currently brings the highest economic return. Longleaf will out grow slash and loblolly in 12-15 years on poor sites and in 25-30 years on average sites. However, longleaf generally take longer to catch up on highly productive sites," continued Browning.

Great strides in knowledge have been made in recent years regarding artificial regeneration of longleaf pine. Planting failures can be minimized, if not eliminated, by using proven techniques. Adequate site preparation, good quality seedlings, proper handling of seedlings and proper planting depth are all critical factors.

Initial and residual control of competition is essential for success. An appropriate herbicide treatment is probably the best way to assure residual control. Scalping, in addition to herbicide use, greatly improves survival and subsequent seedling development. Ripping is also beneficial when soils have been compacted or where a hard pan is present.

Bare root seedlings should be planted immediately after lifting from the nursery bed. Seedlings should have healthy green foliage, an eight inch tap root, a well-developed lateral root system and a root collar diameter greater than 0.4 inches. Roots should not be pruned. As many roots as possible should be under ground. Terminal buds should be at or just above the ground, but never beneath it. If planted too shallow, survival rate of seedlings may decline.

Although containerized seedlings are generally more expensive than bare root seedlings; survival and growth rates are generally better. Planting in October or early November is recommended for bare root and containerized seedlings. Early planting gives seedlings a chance to establish root development well in advance of the following growing season.

Spacing and planting densities vary with the goals of the landowner. Normal seedling densities range from 500 to 700 seedlings per acre. Lower densities may be desirable where a more open condition is wanted. This might be desirable where recreational activities, such as quail hunting or horseback riding, are important management goals.

There are no substitutes for good site preparation and planting practices. Even if all goes well, further treatments may be needed. Managers should monitor young plantations and watch for encroaching herbaceous competition and brown spot needle blight infestations. Prescribed burning will control brown spot and will help control grasses. A herbicide treatment may be needed where herbaceous competition persists. Both bare root and containerized seedlings are very intolerant to competition. Studies have shown that seedlings released from competition with two herbicide treatments were twice as tall as unreleased seedlings.

Once height growth has commenced, be careful with controlled burning. Grass stage saplings over 6 feet are resistant to fire damage. Early height growth seedlings, however, can be killed by fire. Once the stand has achieved a safe height, regular controlled burns will prevent heavy fuel accumulations, control brush and maintain good forage for wildlife.

Fire, A Critical Component of Longleaf Pine
Fire is a critical component of the longleaf ecosystem and it has evolved to withstand frequent fires. Frequent fires historically reduced competition from other trees and shrubs. Fire is the reason that longleaf historically occupied such large acreages. Longleaf pines have often been called a 'fire dependant' or 'fire maintained' species. Older trees have thick bark that protects them from all but the most intense fires. Clusters of long needles protect terminal buds from surface fire heat and will even protect the buds from some fairly heavy scorching.

Longleaf seedlings are very intolerant of overtopping vegetation that competes for available sunlight, nutrients and water. The grass-stage is a special adaptation to fire that allows the seedling to survive periodic surface fires.

Although longleaf are fire resistant, they are not fireproof. Seedlings just out of the grass-stage and less than 3 feet tall are often said to be in the ?candelabra? stage and are highly susceptible to fire damage. During this stage, the bark is still thin, and the terminal bud is still within flame height of normal surface fires. Once the seedling reaches a height of 6 feet, it becomes fire resistant again.

Fire benefits the longleaf ecosystem in numerous ways. Fire creates a bare seed bed for pine seedlings and other fire dependent plants, reduces fuel loads and recycles nutrients. Periodic burning promotes early successional plants that are important to many species of wildlife indigenous to longleaf ecosystems.

Periodic fires also improve recreational access, improve aesthetic value and reduce harmful populations of insects such as ticks. Longleaf stands should be prescribed burned on a regular basis to maintain a healthy forest. Sandhill communities need to be burned every 3 to 10 years while flatwoods and savannahs need burning every 2 to 5 years. Rolling hills communities require prescribed fires on a 2 to 3 year rotation.

Although fire will control hardwood competition, it is important to leave some hardwoods. Hardwood trees, shrubs and woody vines occur naturally along the draws and drainage systems within longleaf ecosystems. These areas are utilized by numerous wildlife species for food, cover and for travel corridors. Drainage systems maintained as streamside management zones not only benefit numerous species of wildlife. Soft mast producing species that may occur include native blueberry, southern crab apple, flowering dogwood, persimmon, black cherry, huckleberry and blackberry. Hard mast or acorn bearing trees may include white oak, water oak, southern red oak, hickory, blackjack oak, bluejack oak, turkey oak, post oak, live oak and chinkapin. These all produce valuable food that are utilized by wildlife at various times of the year. Many of these corridors are naturally protected from fire by the hydrology of the site. In dry years fire lanes may need to be established to exclude fire from drainage systems. However, this option should only be used when soils are not erodible. Otherwise, prescribed burns should be postponed until soil and fuel moisture levels are favorable to prevent fire from carrying across the drain.

Wildlife Management
Longleaf ecosystems are extremely diverse. However, because of the overall reduction in total longleaf pine acreage, many of the plants and animals that are associated with this ecosystem have been adversely impacted. Numerous plant and animal species are endemic to longleaf ecosystems and a total of 170 different species of amphibians and reptiles are found within the historic range. Because of the drastic decline of longleaf pine ecosystems, close to 30 plant and animal species have become threatened or endangered. Approximately 100 more plants and animals that are associated with longleaf ecosystems are listed as species of concern by various state and federal agencies.

In order for a particular wildlife species to prosper, it is imperative that adequate food, water, cover and space be available. However, since different species of wildlife have varying habitat requirements, longleaf often require management. Sound forest management practices that include periodic timber harvest and prescribed burns are beneficial for most species of wildlife associated with longleaf ecosystems. However, the magnitude of timber harvest and the frequency of fire will be dependent upon the habitat requirements of the species of interest.

Impact of Cogongrass on Longleaf Ecosystems
Cogongrass is an invasive perennial grass that produces dense stands that can reach heights of four feet. Another identifying characteristic of the plant is the off-set midrib on the leaves. Cogongrass has numerous attributes that contribute to its extremely invasive nature. Cogongrass is a serious threat to both forestry and wildlife. Intensive control measures should be implemented to retard the growth and spread of this noxious pest anywhere it occurs. The potential for spread can be reduced by carefully cleaning any equipment that has become contaminated prior to transporting it to another field or location. For more information and a slide presentation on cogongrass, go to www.wildlifemiss.org.

Working To Restore The Longleaf Ecosystem
Although only a few months old, the partnership in South Mississippi has already reforested over 362 acres of longleaf pine, reforested over 90 acres of hardwoods, controlled over 355 acres of cogongrass and conducted prescribed burning on 90 acres of longleaf pine. Contacts have been made that should result in the reforestation of over 465 acres of longleaf pine, the reforestation of over 80 acres of hardwoods and controlling over 100 acres of cogongrass in the coming year. A booklet titled "Longleaf Pine: A Handbook For Private Landowners" is being prepared and will be available for distribution later this year.

The partnership has dedicated significant time to controlling cogongrass, the most detrimental invasive species to longleaf pine. It has conducted 21 presentations on cogongrass to Resource Conservation and Development Districts, county forestry associations, High School biology classes, Mississippi State University, staff of the Mississippi Congressional Delegation, the Longleaf Pine Field Day, the Lower Yazoo Basin Partnership, Central Gulf Ecosystem Team, Camp Shelby, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, Mississippi Forestry Association, Mississippi Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Mississippi Soil and Water Conservation Commission, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks and Agriculture/Forestry Field Days. In partnership with BASF Corporation and the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, coordinated the development of a Cogongrass Alliance Group. It has worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to develop an cost-share practice to control cogongrass.

For more information on longleaf restoration, contact Randy Browning, Field Biologist, Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation, P.O. 16537, Hattiesburg, MS 39404-6537 or (601) 264-6010.