J. S. Glitzenstein

Tall Timbers Research Station

Question Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) restoration is an important management objective throughout the southeastern U.S. Site preparation prior to planting longleaf pine seedlings is often required to overcome challenges to seedling establishment on hydric sites. We know site preparation improves growth and survival of planted longleaf pine on hy...

Southeastern pineland ecosystems fall into two broad groups: ecosystems with a grassy understory that depend on frequent low-intensity fires to maintain structure and biodiversity [longleaf (Pinus palustris), south Florida slash (P. densa), shortleaf (P. echinata)], and ecosystems with a shrubby understory that burn less frequently with higher inte...

Wiregrass (Aristida beyrichiana) is a dominant groundcover species that facilitates fire in southeastern U.S.A. pine savannas, thereby limiting woody plant cover and maintaining a herbaceous dominated understory. In December 1993 two of us planted a plot of wiregrass (Aristida beyrichiana) in the midst of fire-maintained little bluestem (Schizachyr...

American chaffseed (Schwalbea americana L. [Scrophulariaceae]) is a federally endangered, hemiparasitic species that primarily occurs in fire-maintained pinelands in the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains of the US. Efforts to propagate S. americana for reintroduction into the wild have been met with mixed results. Discrepancies in our understanding...

A new population of federally endangered Schwalbea americana (American chaffseed) was initiated at the state of South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Woods Bay Heritage Preserve, near Turbeville, South Carolina, in 2013-14. Based on improved survival over time, growth to maturity, evidence of reproduction, and size structure similar to tha...

The Stoddard Fire Plot study at Tall Timbers Research Station near Tallahassee, FL, ongoing since 1960, is one of several long-term studies of fire frequency in the southeast Coastal Plain, USA. Previous data and publications from the Stoddard Fire Plots supported a saturation model of fire frequency effects. According to this model, vascular plant...

Fire behavior was measured and modeled from eight 1 ha experimental plots located in the Francis Marion National Forest, South Carolina, during prescribed burns on February 12 and February 20, 2003. Four of the plots had been subjected to mechanical chipping during 2002 to remove woody understory growth and to reduce large downed woody debris from...

Smoke data were collected from two instrumented plots located on the Francis Marion National Forest in South Carolina during prescribed burns on Feb. 12, 2003. One of the plots had been subjected to mechanical chipping. Particulate matter (PM2.5) data analyzed by gravimetric methods were collected at nine locations on the downwind sides of each plo...

In this study, smoke data were collected from two plots located on the Francis Marion National Forest in South Carolina during prescribed burns on 12 February 2003. One of the plots had been subjected to mechanical chipping, the other was not. This study is part of a larger investigation of fire behavior related to mechanical chipping, parts of whi...

Southeastern United States habitats dominated by longleaf pine (Pinus palustris P. Miller) have declined precipitously in area and extent. Conservation of diverse ground-layer vegetation in these endangered habitats depends on prescribed fire. While the need for prescribed fire is now generally accepted, there is disagreement concerning the most ap...

1 Using 18 years of permanent‐plot data from a 4‐ha stand, we investigated whether stand dynamics is predictable, i.e. driven by competition (inferred from species shade tolerances), or unpredictable (driven by frequent exogenous disturbance or other factors). We also considered whether small disturbance might accelerate or retard succession. The s...

A dendroclimatic study of important tree species in the west Gulf Coastal Plain region, USA, was conducted to evaluate how climate affects tree radial growth in this southeasternmost section of the Eastern Deciduous Forest/Southern Evergreen Forest. We established an east-west transect from western Louisiana to central Texas that crossed the wester...

Southeastern United States habitats dominated by longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Miller) and associated plant species have declined dangerously. Conservation of rare and common plants of longleaf pine habitats may be aided by starting new populations in the field. We review methods for initiating plant populations and integrate information from our...

Ordination showed that species composition in a savanna shifted toward mixed pine-hardwood types after the tornado damage in 1983. Of the twenty 250 m2 study plots, one baygall plot remained unchanged in its position in ordination space, as did five mixed pine-hardwood plots and six savanna plots. However, eight savanna plots moved from the savanna...

This study examined the effect of fire-generated gaps on the growth and reproduction of a rhizomatous forb, Pityopsis graminifolia (golden aster). Two growing seasons after the creation of artificial fire-generated gaps, we observed that these gaps were mostly devoid (<1% cover) of the dominant grass, wiregrass (Aristida beyrichiana), and that rame...

Frequent, low intensity fire was an important component of the natural disturbance regime of presettlement savannas and woodlands in the southeastern USA dominated by longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), and prescribed burning is now a critical part of the management of these endangered habitats. Fire season, fire frequency, and fire intensity are thre...

Relationships of vegetation to environment and land-use history were investigated in fbrests of the Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum in the Hudson Valley of New York. Vegetation data were obtained from 76 1/4 ha circular plots randomly located within the forest. Environmental data collected at each plot included slope, aspect, canopy openness, soil text...

Tree species fell into 2 major groups on the basis of their demographic characteristics and responses to unfavorable conditions. 1) Heavy-seeded species, of which water oak Quercus nigra was the primary example. They produced few seeds, but had high seedling survival. Seedlings of these species emerged late in the summer, thereby avoiding peak peri...

On December 10, 1983, a large tornado touched down in southwestern Tyler County in southeastern Texas, U.S.A., causing major damage to two areas of forest in the Big Thicket National Preserve (BTNP). The sizes of the disturbed areas were 31.1 ha in the Hickory Creek Unit and 10.4 ha in the Turkey Creek Unit of the BTNP. Canopy cover at Hickory Cree...

Vegetation change following selective logging and major natural disturbance was investigated through the use of stand history reconstruction and population monitoring in an east Texas pine-hardwood forest. High frequencies of release in beech (Fagus grandifolia) and white oak (Quercus alba) occurred after apparently natural disturbances in 1800-181...

Seedling density of a beech cohort was lowest in depressions and highest on well-drained microsites in a mature Southern Mixed Hardwood forest in SE Texas. Density declined with distance from mature beech trees. Survivorship was positively related to distance from a beech tree, but was not significantly related to any other environmental variables,...

A method of measuring bark texture is described. This method is used to show that bark roughness in Quercus falcata Michx. (southern red oak) increases from mesic to xeric sites. This change does not appear to be explained by variability in tree size and age, or by changes in the relative abundances of varieties falcata and pagodaefolia. We suggest...

Study represents significant progress in understanding of compositional gradients in longleaf pine plant communities of Central South Carolina. Study shows the importance of water table depths as a controlling variable with vegetation patterns in the field and similar effects in a garden experiment. Grass planting study suggests that observed field...