Age Structure and the Maintenance of Pinus pungens in Pine-oak Forests of Southwestern Virginia

Abstract

-The age structure of table mountain pine Pinus pungens Lambert was examined in three pine-oak forests in southwestern Virginia. The age distribution of P. pungens was bimodal with a major peak in the large tree age classes and a smaller secondary peak in the seedling age classes. The predominance of advanced regeneration of oaks and other gap-exploiting woody species, and the underrepresentation of P. pungens seedlings and small trees, indicates that maintenance of P. pungens in these forests is unlikely under current disturbance regimes. It is hypothesized that the P. pungens populations studied originated from seed trees left on the sites following heavy logging and fires at the turn of the century.