FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Pinus rigida | Pitch Pine 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Pitch pine is considered fire resilient [31].  Pitch pine has thick
bark, rapidly growing sprouts, extensive root systems, and is capable of
basal sprouting [5,6,21,23].  Mature trees have a low to moderate
tolerance of fire, but a high rate of regeneration after fire [21].  The
thick bark protects dormant buds in the bole.  If the crown is destroyed
by fire, these buds will sprout from the trunk and the base of the tree.
Buds at the base of the tree can still sprout after the tree is 60 years
old or more.  Seedlings can also survive fire because of a basal crook
in the stem which brings the lowermost buds against the mineral soil.
The soil insulates the buds from the heat of the fire [25].

Pitch pine produces viable seeds at an early age which allows the
species to withstand frequent fires.  In individuals with serotinous
cones, seeds are stored on site in the crowns until fire melts the resin
and the cones open [23,25].

The natural fire frequency of most pitch pine habitat is 12 to 25 years
[17].  In the Pine Plains of New Jersey, fire frequency is 6 to 8 years.
Nearly all dwarfed individuals in the Pine Plains have serotinous cones
and basal stem crooks.  It is thought that selection is responsible for
the preponderance of these fire adaptations in this region [3,4,13,24].
Root crown sprouting is the dominant reproductive process in the Pine
Plains; seedlings are rare [5].


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   survivor species; on-site surviving root crown 
   off-site colonizer; seed carried by wind; postfire years 1 and 2
   crown-stored residual colonizer; long-viability seed in on-site cones
   crown-stored residual colonizer; short-viability seed in on-site cones

Related categories for Species: Pinus rigida | Pitch Pine