· Location: Abundant
in the Northern Great Lakes region, around Canada.
Climate: Red pine is native to areas with cool-to-warm summers, cold winters, and low to moderate precipitation. Within red pine's natural range the average January temperatures vary from -18° to -4° C (0° to 25° F) and the average July temperatures from 16° to 21° C (60° to 70° F). Average annual maximum temperatures range from 32° to 38° C (90° to 100° F), and average annual minimum temperatures range from -23° to -40° C (-10° to -40° F).
Climate effect: Humid continental climate in the Great Lakes Region. Prevailing winds from the West, precipitation from the Northeast winds picking
up moisture over the Atlantic. Average annual temperature is 46.6 F. Warmest is 70.2 F, coldest 21.5 F. Annual
precipitation is 46.8 inches. September the driest, and November the wettest.
Growing season averages 157 days.
Invasive Species: Many
species that have caused a decrease in the red and white pine tree population
are
Asian long horned
beetle, emerald ash borer, and gypsy moth. These species then cause many
diseases like white pine blister rust, red pine shoot blight, and oak wilt.
Indicator
species: One indicator species would be the pygmy nuthatch. Nesting in live and
healthy trees.
Generalist Species: Canada mayflower. Most examples lack scrub oak, distant sedge, and slender mountain rice, species that are frequent in pitch pine - scrub oak woodlands.
Specialist species: Include the capercaille, crested tits,
and Crossbills, including the large billed parrot crossbill, and Scottish
crossbill.
Top predator: Most of the top predators in this region are
large mammals including the puma, cougar, jaguar, and coyote.
Environmental Toxins: Depleting forest lands, wast from lakes region.
Plants:
RED:
Red
pine, white pine, and balsam fir are characteristic tree species. Balsam fir is sometimes prominent in the
understory as well. Species in the shrub and herb layers include wintergreen, velvet-leaf blueberry, lowbush blueberry,
rough-leaved rice grass, and Mosses are often common.
WHITE: The community has an open forest canopy dominated by red oak and white pine, with lesser amounts of other species such as
red maple, paper birch, and gray birch, or black birch. Red oak may dominate to the near exclusion
of white pine on rocky ridge examples, whereas white pine is more abundant on
sites with sandy soils.
The understory is dominated by lowbush blueberry, black huckleberry, bracken, and sweet fern. Other species that may be present include maple-leaved viburnum, Pennsylvania sedge, distant sedge, and rough-leaved rice grass.
The understory is dominated by lowbush blueberry, black huckleberry, bracken, and sweet fern. Other species that may be present include maple-leaved viburnum, Pennsylvania sedge, distant sedge, and rough-leaved rice grass.
NATIVE
SPECIES: Characteristic Plants: These plants are frequently found in
this community type. Those with an asterisk are often diagnostic of this
community.
- Canopy
- Big-toothed aspen*
- Red pine*
- Red spruce*
- White pine
- Hemlock
- Sapling/shrub
- Balsam fir
- Red spruce
- Dwarf Shrub
- Black huckleberry*
- Herb
- Bracken fern
- Canada mayflower
- Starflower
- Wintergreen
- Round-leaved pyrola
- Bryoid
- Dicranum moss
- Red-stemmed moss
Recreation:
Red pine has been grown primarily for the production of wood for
lumber, piling, poles, cabin logs, railway ties, posts, mine timbers, box
boards, pulpwood, and fuel. It has been one of the most extensively planted
species in the northern United States and Canada, not only for wood production
but also for dune and sandblow control, snowbreaks, windbreaks, and Christmas
trees. Even when wood production is the main goal, red pine forests often are
managed throughout their rotation for other uses such as recreation, wildlife
habitat, and watersheds.
Role of Fire: Maintaining the population of native trees by burning the over-populated region.
Sources:
Division of Forests and Lands: http://www.nhdfl.org/about-forests-and-lands/bureaus/natural-heritage-bureau/photo-index/redpine-whitepine-forest.aspx
Ecology and Management of Northern Forests: http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/durham/4155/massabes.htm
United States Department of Agriculture: http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/disturbance/invasive_species/
