DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Pinus balfouriana | Foxtail Pine 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Foxtail pine is endemic to California and occurs only at high
elevations, on upper slopes and exposed ridges.  It exists as two
disjunct subspecies separated by about 300 air miles (92 km):  in the
Klammath Mountains of northwestern California and in the southern high
Sierra Nevada.  The nothern subspecies, balfouriana, occurs as several
scattered stands in the Marble, Scott, and Yolla Bolly Mountains, as
well as the Trinity Alps [5,8,12,13].

The southern subspecies, austrina, is centered on the upper South Fork
of the Kern River drainage mostly in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National
Parks, as well as the adjacent Inyo National Forest.  On the east side
of the Sierra Nevada, this subspecies is only 20 air miles (30 km) from
the closely related bristlecone pine of the Inyo Mountains [5,8,12,13].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES23  Fir - spruce
   FRES26  Lodgepole pine
   FRES28  Western hardwoods


STATES : 
     CA


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     KICA  SEQU


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
   4  Sierra Mountains


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K008  Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   205  Mountain hemlock
   207  Red fir
   256  California mixed subalpine


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Foxtail pine is not found as a dominant, codominant, or indicator
species in any habitat type.  In the Klammath Mountains, ssp.
balfouriana occurs on ridges and upper southern and western slopes over
7,200 feet (2,200 m).  Here it is associated with whitebark pine (Pinus
albicaulis), mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), Shasta red fir (Abies
magnifica var. shastensis), lodgepole pine (P. contorta ssp.
murrayana), and Jeffrey pine (P. jeffreyi) [2,3,12,13].

In the southern Sierra Nevada, ssp. austrina is characteristic of
treeline where it forms nearly pure forests.  Although individual trees
are widely spaced with little understory vegetation, there are
occasional associations of lodgepole pine, whitebark pine, and limber
pine (P. flexilis) [2,3,12,13].

Related categories for Species: Pinus balfouriana | Foxtail Pine