KUCHLER TYPE DESCRIPTION
Kuchler Type: Great Lakes pine forest


PHYSIOGRAPHY : 
The landscape and topography of this type varies locally, but it is
comparatively uniform.  Typically the Great Lakes pine forest grows on
gently rolling hills formed by glacial deposits.  The topography is also
characterized by valleys, plains, ridges, swamps, and lakes.  Elevations
range from 580 feet (170 m) at lakes Huron and Michigan to 2,230 feet
(680 m)in the Misquah Hills, Minnesota [18].


CLIMATE : 
Like physiography, climate varies locally but is comparatively uniform.
Annual precipitation ranges from 20 inches (500 mm) in northwest
Minnesota to 35 inches (890 mm) in lower Michigan.  The average annual
precipitation for most of the region is about 30 inches (760 mm).  About
56 percent of it falls between May and September.  Average annual
snowfall along Lake Superior is greater than 100 inches (2,540 mm), but
less than 50 inches (1,270 mm) in central and southern Michigan.  Average
annual temperatures are about 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 deg C), but
temperatures can break 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 deg C) and minus 50
degrees Fahrenheit (-45.5 deg C).  The coldest month is usually January.
The growing season varies from 181 days in east-central Wisconsin along
Lake Michigan to 50 days in northwest part of Michigan's Upper
Peninsula.  In the North the growing season is generally longer near
Lake Michigan and shorter inland [18].  Pan evaporation is 30 to 35
inches (760-890 mm).  During the growing season evaporation is roughly
equal to precipitation [1].


SOILS : 
There are more than 400 soil types recognized in the Great Lakes pine
forest region.  Mostly they are cool, moist Spodosols, damp throughout
the year and with iron and aluminum accumulated in the organic horizon.
Soil textures and moisture retention capabilities are considered here
for each of the three pine species in this Kuchler type.  Jack pine
(Pinus banksiana) occurs on dry, sandy soils and will grow on poor sites
characterized by excessively drained, deep or gravelly sands with coarse
to medium texture [18].  In Minnesota and Wisconsin site index improves
for jack pine as fine sand, silt, and clay increase in the upper layer of
soil [20].  Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) occurs on fertile, wet,
loamy soils and competes best on well-drained sandy soils on low to
medium quality sites [27].  Red pine (Pinus resinosa) occurs on sandy,
dry soils of low fertility.  It is not tolerant of alkaline conditions
[19].  All three species do well in sandy loams with good moisture
retention.  Suitable soil pH is 4.8 to 7.3 for white pine and 5.0 to 6.5
for red and jack pine [18].


VEGETATION : 
Eastern white pine is listed as a dominant species in the following
habitat type classification:

Field guide to forest habitat types of northern Wisconsin [10].

Eastern white pine, jack, and red pine are listed as dominants in the
following habitat type and plant community classifications:

Field guide: Habitat classification system for Upper Peninsula of
  Michigan and northeast Wisconsin [4]
Plant communities of Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, U.S.A. [12]
Wilderness ecology: Virgin plant communities of the Boundary Waters
  Canoe Area [17].

Associates of jack pine include northern pin oak (Quercus
ellipsoidalis), red pine, quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), paper
birch (Betula papyrifera), and balsam fir (Abies balsamea) [6,20].
These species are usually subdominant to jack pine, although quaking
aspen, paper birch, and red pine may be codominant [6].

Red pine associates include, but are not limited to, jack pine, northern
pin oak, quaking aspen, paper birch, balsam fir, white spruce (Picea
glauca), bigtooth aspen (Populus grandidentata), and red oak (Quercus
rubra).  Red pine is subdominant with jack pine or aspens in mixed
stands and codominant with eastern white pine on dry, sandy loams.  It
is sometimes minor but dominant with oaks, balsam fir, or white spruce
[6,19].  Understory species of red pine include American hazel (Corylus
americana), beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta), serviceberry (Amelanchier
spp.), raspberry (Rubus spp.), sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina), trailing
arbutus (Epigaea repens), teaberry (Gaultheria spp.) wild sarsaparilla
(Aralia nudicaulis), and strawberry (Fragaria spp.) [6].

White pine associates include, but are not limited to, balsam fir, red
pine, northern red oak, white spruce, paper birch, yellow birch (Betula
alleghaniensis), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), basswood (Tilia
americana), hemlock (Tsuga spp.), black cherry (Prunus serotina), pin
cherry (P. pensylvanica), and white oak (Quercus alba).  Understory
species include teaberry (Gaultheria procumbens), wild sarsaparilla,
hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula), false lily-of-the-valley
(Maianthemum dilatatum), woodsorrel (Oxalis spp.), and broomsedge
(Andropogon virginicus) [6].


WILDLIFE : 
Some of the wildlife species found in the Great Lakes pine forest
include black bear, wolf, coyote, fox, bobcat, moose, deer, hares,
cottontail, beaver, great-horned owl, hawks, bald eagle, and a variety
of passerine birds.  The breeding population of passerine birds averages
153 pairs per 100 acres.  The Kirtland's warbler is an endangered
species that inhabits the Great Lakes pine forest [1].


ECOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS : 
White pine is more shade tolerant than either red or jack pine.  Jack
pine is the least shade tolerant of the three species, and red pine is
intermediate [6,20].  Jack pine is a short-lived pioneer that usually
grows in even-age stands.  White and red pines are longer lived and they
occur in pure or mixed stands [6].

Jack pine is a pioneer species on burned over or otherwise exposed
sites.  Following fire, jack pine forms pure stands or the majority of
the stocking [20].  It occurs most commonly at elevations of 1,000 to
1,500 feet (300-450 m), growing on eskers, sand dunes, rock outcrops,
and dry outwash areas.  On these poorer sites jack pine persists when
succession stagnates.  On good sites it is succeeded by red pine
followed white pine, then by a hardwood mix of sugar maple, basswood,
and northern red oak [6].  Jack pine can also be directly followed by
speckled alder (Alnus rugosa), American hazel, beaked hazel, paper
birch, and quaking aspen [20].

Red pine occurs at elevations between 700 and 1,400 feet (200-400 m).
It often succeeds jack pine, paper birch, and aspens.  On poor sites red
pine-dominated subclimax may develop if the site is undisturbed.  On
good sites red pine is succeeded by hardwoods, white pine, or white
spruce and balsam fir [6].

In early succession white pine strongly competes with aspens, oaks, and
maples [27].  It can establish well on poorer sites due to reduced
competition from hardwoods.  Once established on good sites white pine
outcompetes other species.  It is sometimes a pioneer species on old
fields.  On heavy-textured soils pure white pine stands are succeeded by
sugar maple-beech-yellow birch, white pine-hemlock, sugar
maple-basswood, or white oak plant communitites.  In the lower peninsula
of Michigan pure stands are succeeded by white pine-hemlock or hemlock
mixed with northern hardwoods [6].

Related categories for Kuchler Type: Great Lakes pine forest