Opportunities for Uneven-Aged Management in Second Growth Longleaf Pine Stands in Florida1

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other UF/IFAS Extension publications, contact your county’s UF/IFAS Extension office. U.S. Department of Agriculture, UF/IFAS Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A & M University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, dean for UF/IFAS Extension. The Longleaf Pine Ecosystem In pre-colonial times, longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) forests covered nearly 60 million acres of land in the southeastern United States, from southeast Virginia to central Florida, and west to the Gulf Region of Texas. Since European settlement the longleaf pine resource has steadily declined. In 1935, 20 million acres were found throughout the South (a 70% reduction), while in 1994 only 3.3 million acres remained (a 95% reduction; 2, 6, 23, 37).