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Pines

Formally Refereed

Abstract

The southern pines (yellow or hard pines, Genus Pinus Sub-genus Pinus Section Pinus Subsection Australes) occupy an immense land-base in the southeastern region of the United States (Little and Critchfield, 1969). In addition, they are planted and managed for wood production on millions of hectares worldwide including China, Brazil, Argentina, and Australia. The taxonomic subsection Australes consists of 11 species, ranging from relatively minor to major in terms of land base occupied and management opportunities. For example Table-mountain pine (Pinus pungens) sporadically occupies higher elevation sites in the southern Appalachian Mountains and due to declining habitat is considered a species of concern for conservation (Erickson et al., 2012). In contrast, loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) has a large native range with an even larger managed land-base (across the lower and upper Coastal Plains and the Piedmont provinces) as a result of extensive planting and intensive silviculture in response to the wood products industry. In addition to loblolly pine, three other southern pine species are considered major due to their large native ranges— shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata), longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and slash pine (Pinus elliottii var. elliottii). Of note, the former two are also considered to be species of concern for conservation (Erickson et al., 2012) due to long-standing land management practices that have favored loblolly pine. Similarly to loblolly pine, although on a smaller scale, slash pine has been widely planted and managed for wood and fiber production. Because of this, slash pine could be an important component of southern pine production for bioenergy purposes sharing many similar features in this respect to loblolly pine. However, for the purpose of this chapter we will focus our discussion on loblolly pine-- general features and properties in bioenergy production, genetics and breeding for bioenergy traits, silvicultural practices for bioenergy production, tree harvesting and chip processing, bioenergy opportunities and challenges, and sustainability of bioenergy production systems. Socio-conomic analyses and their implications are critical for the whole system but are beyond the scope of this chapter.

Keywords

southern pines, biofuel, silviculture, genetics, wood chemistry, sustainability

Citation

Nelson, C. Dana; Peter, Gary F.; McKeand, Steven E.; Jokela, Eric J.; Rummer, Robert B.; Groom, Leslie H.; Johnsen, Kurt H. 2013. Pines. In: Biofuel crops production, physiology and genetics edited by Bharat P. singh. Fort Valley State University, Fort Valley, Georgia USA. CAB International 2013. 427-459. 33 p.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/50772