ABSTRACT: Sand ( [Chapm. ex Engelm.] Vasey ex Sarg.), often a monotypic dominant of the (USA) scrub assemblage, is an early successional CONSERVATION ISSUES that is small in size, short-lived, and disturbance dependent. It does not conform to traditional images of old-growth . Nevertheless, to implement old-growth policy, the U.S. Forest Service has published stand-scale quantitative guidelines for recognizing old-growth sand pine (Outcalt 1997). Although the policy is well intentioned, we question • the conceptual basis and management perspective implicit in developing a stand-scale definition of old-growth sand pine. Our principal concerns involve matters of scale and disturbance suppression. A stand-scale perspective on management of old-growth sand Disturbance and pine is doomed to failure: if fires are allowed to burn, older will be consumed; if fires are suppressed, sand pine will likely be replaced by shade-tolerant associates. A Scale Effects on landscape-level management framework is essential to allow for a spatiotemporally shifting pattern of mature sand pine patches embedded within a matrix of younger scrub. Moreover, we caution that modern scrub vegetation in wilderness areas occurs on a small

Southern Old- scale and is dramatically altered by fire suppression; therefore, it is imprudent to use wilderness areas as a standard for judging the character of a sand pine scrub landscape Growth Forests in pre-European-contact conditions.

(USA): The Sand Index terms: Florida, old growth, Pinus clausa, sand pine scrub, scale effects Pine Example

DIFFERING IMAGES OF OLD GROWTH

Albert J. Parker windswept, rocky ridges and south-facing Images of old-growth forest in the Amer- slopes characterized by thin, sandy soils Kathleen C. Parker ican Southeast are varied. For many, the (Stahle and Chaney 1994). Helen Wiggins-Brown mixed mesophytic cove forests of the southern Appalachians, with large tulip- Department of Geography Collectively, these images capture many popiar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.) , University of different dimensions of the old-growth lichen-covered tree bark, humid air, and Athens, GA 30602-2502 USA forest concept. They range across a con- high arborescent diversity is the epitome of [email protected] tinuum of moisture regimes, from hydric old-growth forest (Braun 1950, Whit-taker swamps to xeric ridges. They span a struc- 1956, Martin 1992). Others might select a tural range from dense forests of large • cypress swamp as an image of old-growth trees to savannas and open woodlands of forest, typified by massive, old baldcypress stunted trees. They represent a variety of (Taxodium distichum [L.] Richar3) trees, relationships with disturbance, from cove branches festooned with Spanish moss forests presumably maintained by individ- (Tillandsia usneoides L.), and standing ual treefall and canopy gap regeneration water punctuated by cypress knees (Stable et (Runkle 1990) to savannas frequented by al. 1988). Still others may be partial to an surface fires several times per decade. old-growth image of the Among this constellation of features, a (Pinus palustris Miller) savannas of the few basic elements of an old-growth forest upland Coastal Plain, with scattered large, concept emerge: oldness, naturalness, several-hundred-year-old long. eaf pine trees structural complexity, and, perhaps, sta- amidst a wiregrass (Aristida beyrichiana bility. Trin. and Rupr.) under-story historically maintained by regular surface fires (Platt et Surprisingly, the literal oldness of trees on al. 1988, Glitzenstein et al. 1995). Finally, a site is rarely stressed as an important trait there are those who argue for recognition in old-growth forest recognition, although of the old-growth character of post David Stahle and other dendrochronolo- (Quercus stellata Wangenh.)/ blackjack gists have championed its importance oak (Q. marilandica Muenchh.) woodlands (Stahle and Chaney 1994). This lack of of the Ozark Plateau, with open, stunted, attention presumably is rooted in the lo- aged trees on gistical difficulty of extracting tree cores during rapid stand inventories. Nonethe- less, some might argue that the literal age

Natural Areas Journal 20.273-279

Volume 20 (3), 2000 Natural Areas Journal 273 of individual trees in a stand is of less (U. S. Forest Service 1997). age to catastrophic disturbance agents, as significance to old-growth character than well as related conceptual concerns over the oldness of the stand itself, that is, the Earlier views accepted stability as a com- the spatial scale at which management for amount of time it has remained free of mon feature of old-growth forests (Bor- old growth should be focused. In this catastrophic disturbance (Whitney 1987). mann and Likens 1979, Whitney 1987), pa-per, we highlight these difficulties by envisioning stands in which populations contemplating the definition and Much attention has been paid to the notion maintain a dynamic equilibrium over time management of a single SAF example: of naturalness in grappling with definitions stimulated by fine-scale patterns of mor- old-growth sand pine (Pinus clausa of old-growth forests. Most conceptual def- tality and recruitment. In recent decades, a [Chapm. ex Engelm.] Vasey ex Sarg.) initions of old growth express or imply a range of views has been expressed regard- forests. relative absence of human modification ing the role of natural stand-destroying (Hunter 1989, Hunter and White 1997). agents in old-growth forests. Some have Generally, this attention is focused on tech- insisted that recently catastrophically dis- SAND PINE FORESTS nological activities of modern culture (such turbed sites lose their old-growth status Sand pine forests (SAF cover type 69, Eyre as logging, grazing, or land clearing), (Whitney 1987). Others have embraced 1980) are not among the gallery of al-though the notion of naturalness opens events such as crown fires and blowdowns southern old-growth forest images with a Pandora's box when viewed from the as a part of the texture of old-growth im- which we opened this paper. Sand pine is historical perspective of the interaction of ages (Sprugel 1991, Kaufmann et al. 1992, an early successional species that displays indigenous cultures with their landscape Trombulak 1996). The balance of opinion most of the traits that typify this seral (Denevan 1992, Vale 1998), or treated in has shifted so that stability is no longer status; it is generally short-lived, rapid light of the philosophical debate on widely regarded as a typical condition of growing, early maturing, and small in stat- humans as part of nature (Gomez-Pampa old-growth forest ecosystems. ure compared to most and dominant and Kaus 1992, Cronon 1995). Regardless species of other southern forests. Sand pine of debates over the meaning of "natural," BRIEF BACKGROUND ON occasionally exceeds 100 years of age in the obviousness of direct human OLD-GROWTH FOREST POLICY some stands, and maximum stem diame- modification of a setting plays a key role in ters are less than 50 cm dbh. Sand pine is the evaluation of its old-growth character. As part of the reaction to the spotted owl the nearly monotypic, overstory dominant (Strix occidentalis [Xantus de Vesey]) con- of the (Myers 1990). The Structural complexity is the cornerstone of troversy in the Pacific Northwest during scrub assemblage comprises an understory practical, quantitative definitions of the 1980s, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) of evergreen and small trees, old-growth forest stands. Many authors formally recognized old growth as a crit- including myrtle oak (Quercus myrtifolia have established size-structural criteria for ical forest resource and implemented a Willd.), sand live oak (Q. geminata Small), old-growth recognition, such as the policy to identify tracts of old-growth for- Chapman's oak (Q. chapmanii Sargent), density of trees exceeding a given diameter est that remain under the Forest Service's saw palmetto (Serenoa repens [Bartram] at breast height (dbh), or a minimum value jurisdiction. As an aid to stand recognition Small), scrub palmetto (Sabal etonia Swin- for bas-al area (Martin 1992, Hardt and and mapping, the Old-Growth Task Force gle ex Nash), rusty lyonia (Lyonia ferrug- Swank 1997). A complex vertical profile for the combined Eastern and Southern inea with multiple tree layers is indicative of Regions mandated that specific, quantita- [Walter] Nuttall), and Florida rose- old-growth structure in some practical tive definitions of old-growth forest be mary ( ericoides Michaux). In definitions, although this implies a strong established for each forest type formally addition, Florida scrub is habitat for a role for localized tree-fall and within-stand recognized by the Society of American number of federally threatened or endan- mortality agents. Another prominent ele- Foresters (SAF) (Eyre 1980). Balanced gered and animal species, including ment of structural complexity in practical against other priorities, appropriate exam- gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus old-growth definitions is evidence of ples of old-growth forest from each forest [Daudin]) and scrub jays (Aphelocoma on-going mortality in the stand, usually in type were to be included as set-aside areas coerulescens [Bost.]) (Flather et al. 1994). the form of a critical concentration of (i.e., areas "permanently" excluded from snags, downed logs, or other coarse woody timber sales) in the plans developed for Despite the ample precipitation that char- debris (Martin 1992, Hardt and Swank each national forest. (See Tyrrell 1996 for acterizes Florida, scrub sites are edaphi- 1997). Although structural complexity has a more detailed treatment of the history of cally dry and nutrient poor, occurring on been touted as a key trait in old-growth USFS old-growth policy.) virtually pure quartz sand (Evans et al. forests, it varies spatially within forest 1996) associated with the modem coastal types and regionally among forest types, Several difficulties have emerged in the strand as well as paleo-dunes in the interi- so that few quantitative criteria could be implementation of this policy, chief among or of the Florida peninsula. universally applied with satisfactory which are practical problems presented by results. Hence, quantitative definitions the prevalence of early successional dom- Sand pine has been taxonomically parti- must be tailored to specific forest types and inants in SAF forest types and their link- tioned into two varieties, based on geo- ecological regions graphic disjunction and expression of cone serotiny. Ocala sand pine (Pinus clausa

274 Natural Areas Journal Volume 20 (3), 2000 var. clausa D.B. Ward) is limited in distri- the USFS has published an empirical def- 55 years of age, based on a small sample of bution to the Florida peninsula and exhib- inition of old-growth sand pine forest cores from the largest trees (Table 2). Our its a high degree of cone serotiny in many (Outcalt 1997). Should sand pine have mature Ocala sand pine stands, based on a populations. Choctawhatchee sand pine (P. been excluded from the southern region's complete collection of tree cores, were c. var. immuginata D.B. Ward) occurs pri- characterization of old-growth forests, or 60–70 years old. Maximum stem diameters marily on the Florida panhandle (one pop- should our image of old-growth be were similar for both studies, ulation occupies a barrier island in coastal re-molded to fit the character of the approximately 43–44 cm dbh for the larg- ), and cone serotiny is rare in this region and its flora? est trees. The most striking contrast was variety. These two varieties differ substan- evident for mean stand basal areas, rough- tially in response to disturbance (Myers ly twice as great in our data as in Outcalt's STAND-SCALE DEFINITIONS OF 1990). Ocala sand pine, the serotinous (1997). In general, Ocala sand pine is nei- OLD-GROWTH SAND PINE variety, is a fire-resilient taxon (McCune ther old nor massive. Myers (1990) indi- FORESTS 1988); historically, stands were consumed cated that the oldest known Ocala sand by crown fires at 40- to 60-year intervals. Ot.r prior experience in sampling sand pine pine trees are about 80 years of age. Even Populations are even-aged, with large forests for other purposes lends itself to an the former champion tree from Wekiwa patches established following stand-de- appraisal of Outcalt's (1997) stand-scale Springs State Park was smaller than 50 cm stroying fires. With the advent of effective definition of old-growth sand pine forests. dbh and less than 50 years old when it was fire suppression following World War II, In 1994 we mapped small plots (0.16–0.36 felled by a windstorm. many extant sand pine forests have devel- ha) from mature sand pine forests in six oped canopy gaps from root rot and con- locations, three of each sand pine variety Outcalt (1997) emphasized that Ocala sand tain many trees of relatively old age (Table 1). We recorded diameters and pine stands exceeding 40 years of age (60–70 years) (Parker et al. 1997b). By extracted cores from each sand pine indi- of-ten succumb to root rot, so that a few contrast, Choctawhatchee sand pine shows vidual exceeding 5 cm dbh to determine snags and canopy gaps are found in little imprint of crown fires; rather, episodic age. Hence, we have reasonably good old-growth stands. Our data provide wind events, such as hurricanes, prune the demographic characterizations for repre- comparable measures of snag density. existing canopy and permit regeneration sentative sites. Moreover, we have sam- Whether this is historically representative in small patches. Hence, forests are more pled a broader range of sand pine forests of mature sand pine stands is debatable. uneven-aged and Choctawhatchee sand (12 Ocala sand pine stands, 9 Choc- Prior to the advent of fire suppression pine is persistent without the intervention tawhatchee sand pine stands) for the pur- around the 1940s, snags would have been of stand-destroying disturbance events poses of characterizing genetic structure more readily consumed by crown fires; (Myers 1990). within and between varieties (Parker and indeed, median stand age would have Hamrick 1996, Parker et al. 1997a). likely been lower, so that Ocala sand pine Given its small stature, short life span, and forests old enough to experience initiation dependence on disturbance (either fire or of gap-phase mortality were probably wind) for regeneration, sand pine seems to Ocala Sand Pine uncommon. In any event, today's older be an unlikely candidate for consideration The stands used by Outcalt (1997) to de- sand pine forests are not very structurally as an exemplar of old-growth forest. But velop quantitative measures of old-growth diverse, nor are they laden with snags and because it constitutes an SAF cover type, conditions for Ocala sand pine averaged downed . Without human intervention into the natural fire regime,

Table 1. Location of Florida sand pine stands investigated for this study.

Site Name County Latitude Longitude Plot Size (m)

Choctawhatchee Sand Pine (Pinus clausa var. immuginata) ' Eglin Air Force Base, Scrub Hill Site Walton 30°34 N 86°09'W 50 x 50 St. Joseph Peninsula State Park Gulf 29°48'N 85°25'W 40 x 40 ' Gulf Islands National Seashore, Naval Live Santa Rosa 30°22 N 87°08'W 40 x 40

Ocala Sand Pine (Pinus clausa var. clausa) Highlands Hammock State Park Highlands 27°29'N 81°31'W 50 x 50 ' ' Jonathan Dickinson State Park Martin 27°01 N 80°07 W 60 x 60 Rock Springs Run State Reserve Orange 28°46'N 81°27'W 40 x 40

Volume 20 (3), 2000 Natural Areas Journal 275

Table 2. Comparison of quantitative attributes between Outcalt's (1997) examples of old-growth not attain venerable ages. Modern scrub sand pine stands and our examples of mature sand pine forests. Values from Outcalt occupy the remnants are often small, highly fragment- top line of each entry; values from our sampling occupy the bottom line. ed, and, for Ocala sand pine, suffer from fire suppression policies that have altered the structure and dynamics of most re- Choctawhatchee Sand Pine Ocala Sand Pine maining sites. Hence, they do not convey Attribute Range Mean Range Mean a pristine image of natural forest, one un- modified by modern human technologies. Age of largest tree (years) 60-113 83 45-70 55 Sand pine trees are not massive in size, their forests are not particularly structural- 66-89 79 53-61 57 ly complex, nor are dead stems common, Age of oldest tree (years) N/A N/A N/A N/A even on mature sites. By these structural 72-132 107 59-71 63 standards, sand pine forests do not ap- Maximum diameter (cm) 32.5-47.9 39.2 26-43 35.0 proach old-growth character. Finally, like other early successional taxa, sand pine 26.1-37.1 33.4 31.1-44.3 38.5 populations are not stable or self-replicat- Stand basal area 11.2-19.2 16.1 8.4-9.0 8.6 ing in the absence of disturbance (although (m2/ha of trees >10 cm dbh) 5.6-15.4 10.3 9.9-26.6 17.6 Choctawhatchee sand pine comes closer to this ideal than Ocala sand pine). Tree density (#/ha >10 cm dbh) 247-450 354 160-300 194 260-362 295 289-556 418 LANDSCAPE-SCALE PERSPECTIVES >10 cm 7-47 22 13-73 47 Snag density (#/ha dbh) ON OLD-GROWTH SAND PINE 20-38 28 24-88 53 FORESTS Tyrrell (1996) advocated a landscape-level perspective for U.S. Forest Service old-growth planning, and Trombulak (1996) explored the ramifications of this most dead wood, along with the dense This diminutive coastal morphology idea in some detail. Trombulak observed understory layer, would be readily de-parts widely from traditional images of that a stand-scale focus, such as that of consumed in crown fires. old-growth forest, but it does occupy the Outcalt (1997) for sand pine, does not kind of ecophysiologically stressed setting address scale-dependent processes such as that typifies truly old trees (Stahle and disturbance, recovery, and population Choctawhatchee Sand Pine Chaney 1994, Abrams and Orwig 1995). persistence. He suggested several Outcalt's (1997) representative old-growth guidelines for old-growth policy stands of Choctawhatchee sand pine Hurricanes and other windstorms are prev- implementation, among which the aver-aged about 80 years of age for the alent along the coast of the Florida following are germane to the sand pine largest trees, with larger individuals pan-handle (Wilkinson et al. 1978). They scrub: employ flexible management goals, approaching 48 cm dbh in one stand (Table serve as an important disturbance stimulus recognizing that the location of 2). Our stands were generally older, with by opening canopy gaps and triggering old-growth forests may change in response the oldest trees ranging from 72 to 132 years. ongoing recruitment in mature to episodic patterns of disturbance and Our largest tree diameters were Choctawhatchee sand pine forests. Crown recovery; accept that history matters in substantially smaller than those reported by fires are not important in stand dynamics, vegetation development—that is, the Outcalt for Choctawhatchee sand pine, as presumably because many sites along the details of initial conditions and subsequent were our stand basal area values. The Gulf Coast have historically been isolated history leave a lasting legacy on the vege- densities of trees and snags were comparable from more flammable surrounding tation cover; and accept that restoration between studies. In general, vegetation by open water. In the absence of efforts probably will be a necessary com- Choctawhatchee sand pine stands display crown fires, wind damage helps maintain ponent of old-growth maintenance. The an uneven-aged structure, possessing both persistent populations of this early emphasis here should be on retaining or old, large trees as well as seedlings and successional taxon. Between the two reintroducing stresses that shape the site saplings within the same stand. Like Ocala varieties, Choctawhatchee sand pine more (such as fire or native herbivores), rather sand pine, Choctawhatchee sand pine trees closely approaches the common than recreating a specific, idealized com- are neither very large nor very old by expectation of a self-replicating position or forest structure. traditional old-growth standards. Indeed, the population in an old-growth forest stand. oldest Choctawhatehee sand pine trees that Outcalt (1997) wisely pointed out the we sampled (up to 132 years) were stunted, When compared against the usual stan- management conundrum involved in twisted individuals found growing on the dards by which old-growth forests are eval- pre-serving old-growth Ocala sand pine back dunes at St. Joseph Peninsula State uated, sand pine forests demonstrate little stands Park. old-growth character. Sand pine trees do

276 Natural Areas Journal Volume 20 (3), 2000 by noting that lack of regeneration in the landscape of open scrub with small en- the specter of potential property damage absence of crown fires hastens conversion claves of older sand pine that temporarily and legal liability stymies efforts to to oak cover. He suggested that prescribed evaded . In presettlement Florida, em-ploy prescribed crown fires, even on natural be allowed in nonharvest large tracts of scrub with mature sand pine smaller, isolated scrub remnants. Perhaps zones (i.e., wilderness areas). Management overstory were probably rare. Most scrub the public resolve to maintain a dynamic focus on wilderness areas for old-growth would likely have been young, having been sand pine scrub is, at present, insufficient sand pine is understandable but potentially burned every few decades, given the sea- to address these impediments. Even so, misleading. A wilderness area from which sonality of the precipitation regime, the we should not be misled into thinking that crown fires have been suppressed for most prevalence of thunderstorms over the Flor- a stand-scale management plan, like that of the typical life-span of the overstory ida peninsula, and the interdigitation of of the USFS, will be adequate to create a dominant will comprise a much higher scrub with more flammable longleaf pine lasting network of representative mature percentage of mature sand pine stands savannas. Ironically, through fire suppres- sand pine scrub forests. A landscape that ("old growth") than would be evident if sion activities, we have fostered the devel- perpetuates mature stands of Ocala sand fires had been allowed to carry through opment of larger tracts of mature sand pine scrub must incorporate crown fires scrub terrain without human intercession. pine forests than are likely to have existed that occasionally raze scrub, destroy stands As a result, we must be cautious in otherwise. of older trees, and permit the seeds of adopting the relatively small wilderness future mature sand pine to be sown. area in as a standard Organisms dependent on open sand pine Pre-scribed crown fires might be feasible or control that reflects how sand pine scrub are in peril. The conservation value in a few locales, such as at Rock Springs scrub landscapes might have been of preserving uncharacteristically old sand Run State Reserve near Orlando, Lake configured in the past. Such a standard pine stands that owe their development to Arbuckle State Park near Avon Park, or, almost certainly overestimates the natural over a half-century of fire suppression is with substantially modified priorities, on prevalence of older sand pine stands. In dubious. To ensure preservation of scrub the heavily cutover Big Scrub of Ocala any event, a self-replicating population of endemics, management should be redirect- National Forest. Ocala sand pine trees within an undis- ed from putative old-growth sand pine turbed stand is a virtual impossibility. If stands to preserving a dynamic scrub land- Should a crown fire management program crown fires are allowed to burn, older tracts scape that experiences episodic crown fires. be instituted for scrub landscapes, we of Ocala sand pine would eventually be Such an Ocala sand pine scrub landscape would caution that it is ecologically unre- consumed. If disturbance suppression con- would have patches of scrub intermixed alistic to expect that "old-growth" sand tinues, Ocala sand pine probably will even- with longleaf pine savanna, and the scrub pine (or any other stand age class) would tually be replaced by more tolerant associ- patches themselves would represent a range occupy a fixed percentage of area, even if ates in most of the scrub habitats where it of ages/stages of development. we had the luxury of an extensive scrub dominates today (Abrahamson and Abra- landscape in which disturbances were per- hamson 1996). Young, open scrub on recently burned sites mitted to operate without suppression. The would be areally dominant, given the short vagaries of stand development, meteorol- From a conservation perspective, reintro- fire rotation typical of scrub (30–60 years). ogy, and burn pattern will not yield a tidy, duction of fire to Florida peninsular scrub Scattered patches of mature scrub (old steady-state landscape mosaic of young is crucial to management of its rich con- growth by USFS standards) would be ev- and old scrub in dynamic equilibrium (Bak- centration of endemic and animals, ideat in this landscape on long-unburned er 1989, Wu and Loucks 1995). a number of which are federally threat- sites, but these could be expected to shift ened and endangered species (Flather et al. spatially over multi-decadal time periods. Ironically, the effect of fire suppression in 1994). Unlike spotted owls, scrub jays and the Florida panhandle has been to facili- gopher tortoises inhabit young, recently Of course, there are substantial impedi- tate invasion of nonserotinous Choc- burned scrub sites (Woolfenden and ments to instituting landscape-scale old tawhatchee sand pine into former longleaf Fitzpatrick 1984:36-42, Diemer 1986). In growth policies for Ocala sand pine (or pine savanna (McCay 1998). The result is a this century, large tracts of former scrub most other fire-dependent taxa). The frag- dramatic inland invasion of sand pine have been converted to citrus orchards, mented collection of private and public along the near coastal zone of Eglin Air rangelands, and human settlements. The lands scattered across Florida that support Force Base, where sandy substrates are remaining scrub habitat is largely protect- remnants of sand pine scrub restricts pol- available. Although this suggests that sand ed from fire by management directive or len flow, seed exchange, animal move- pine is doing well in this region, it is mis- simply because it is no longer adjacent to ment, and fire propagation among extant leading in so far as these are overstory more flammable plant assemblages (Chris- populations; the economic pressures to populations of sand pine that virtually lack tensen 1993). Hence, we find some exam- con".inue harvesting sand pine do not favor an understory scrub layer. In this case, ples of mature Ocala sand pine scrub, but reintroduction of crown fires into the larg- identification of historical scrub sites from few that preserve the character of a former est remaining tract of sand pine forest on which the modern populations of Choc- scrubland in which wildfires sculpted a federal lands (Ocala National Forest); and tawhatchee sand pine have invaded remains

Volume 20 (3), 2000 Natural Areas Journal 277 an important conservation initiative. From a vation management. Forest Ecology and ACKNOWLEDGMENTS stand-scale management perspective, Management 63:247-300. protection of Choctawhatchee sand pine We thank Dana Bryan, Dick Roberts, and Baker, W.L. 1989. Landscape ecology and scrub sites up to several kilometers inland Parks Small of the Florida Department of nature reserve design in the Boundary Wa- from the Gulf coastal strand represents our Environmental Protection; Riley Hoggard ters Canoe Area, Minnesota. Ecology best hope for maintaining mature sand pine of the National Park Service; and Scott 70:23-35. scrub of presettlement character, simply Hassell, Rick McWhite, Carl Petrick, and Bormann, F.H. and G.E. Likens. 1979. Cata- because wind damage is not readily Steve Seiber of Jackson Guard, Eglin Air strophic disturbance and the steady state in sup-pressed and the local scale of wind Force Base, for permission to conduct northern hardwood forests. American Sci- effects provides ongoing regeneration field-work and for logistical support. We entist 67:660-669. opportunities within the small pockets of thank Matt Beaty, David Conway, Julie Braun, E.L. 1950. Deciduous Forests of scrub that remain on public lands in the Evans, and Deanna McCay for assistance East-ern North America. Hafner Publishing Florida pan-handle. None of this land is with field data collection and measuring of Company, New York. 596 pp. currently ad-ministered by the USFS. tree cores. This research was supported by Christensen, N.L. 1993. Fire regimes and eco- National Science Foundation grant system dynamics. Pp. 233-244 in P.J. Crutzen and J.G. Goldammer, eds., Fire in The current USFS policy to identify and SBR-9313704 to Kathleen C. Parker and the Environment: The Ecological, Atmo- preserve representative stands of old-growth Albert J. Parker. spheric, and Climatic Importance of Vege- forest from different cover types is not tation Fires. John Wiley and Sons, New universally appropriate. It is, without York. Albert Parker is Professor of Geography at question, well-intentioned, and may well be Cronon, W. 1995. The trouble with wilderness, an effective vehicle for preserving natural, the University of Georgia. He has or, getting back to the wrong nature. Pp. structurally complex, old forests in regions con-ducted field research in temperate 69-90 in W. Cronon, ed., Uncommon where disturbance regimes permit their coniferous forests of the American West and Ground: Toward Reinventing Nature. W.W. development, such as in parts of the South. His research interests include forest Norton, New York. southern Appalachians. However, imple- ecology, disturbance ecology, vegetation dy- Denevan, W. M. 1992. The pristine myth: the mentation of a stand-scale old-growth policy namics, and environmental history. landscape of the Americas in 1492. Annals suffers from a museum-piece mentality in of the Association of American Geogra- which change is unanticipated and Kathleen Parker is Professor of Geography phers 82:369-385. unwanted. Any long-term success in at the University of Georgia. She has Diemer, J.A. 1986. The ecology and manage- old-growth forest management that involves conducted field research in arid lands of the ment of the in the early successional species necessitates a American Southwest, as well as in forests of southeast-ern United States. Herpetologica 42:125-133. reversal of this attitude, so that change is the southern United States. Her research embraced as normal. We should not be interests include biogeomorphology, Evans, J.K., A.J. Parker, K.C. Parker, and D.S. Leigh. 1996. Edaphic properties and foliar surprised when our best modern examples of physical geography of arid lands, vegetation old-growth forest succumb to disturbance elemental concentrations from sand pine dynamics, and plant population genetics. agents (see Pollan 1991 re: Cathedral Pines (Pinus clausa) populations throughout Flor- ida. Physical Geography 17:219-241. in Connecticut), nor should we be surprised Helen Wiggins-Brown currently works at as younger forests of today mature into an Eyre, F.H. (ed.). 1980. Forest cover types of the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory in old-growth status that is structurally or the United States and Canada. Society of American Foresters, Washington, D.C. compositionally different from present-day Aiken, South Carolina. She has con-ducted 148 pp. examples. Land management policies need to field research in the southern Appalachians. Rather, C.H., L.A. Joyce, and C.A. Bloomgar- recognize the dynamic nature of vegetation Her research interests include forest den. 1994. Species endangerment patterns cover and embrace disturbance as a crucial ecology, forest resource policy, and vegetation dynamics. in the United States. General Technical element in the fabric of most landscapes Report RM-241, U.S. Department of (Attiwill 1994). In cases such as Florida sand Agri-culture, Forest Service, Rocky pine scrub, devotion to preserving a single LITERATURE CITED Mountain Forest and Range Experiment condition, such as old growth, obscures the Station, Fort Collins, Colo. 42 pp. larger need for a flexible plan that values all Abrahamson, W.G. and J.R. Abrahamson. 1996. Glitzenstein, J.S., W.J. Platt, and D.R. Streng. stages of stand development. This need Effects of a low-intensiity winter fire on 1995. Effects of fire regime and habitat on becomes especially acute in circumstances long-unburned Florida sand pine scrub. tree dynamics in north Florida longleaf pine Natural Areas Journal 16:171-183. where rarer elements of the biota are con- savannas. Ecological Monographs centrated in disturbed settings, as is the case Abrams, M.D. and D.A. Orwig. 1995. Struc- 65:441-476. ture, radial growth dynamics and recent cli- for sand pine scrub. Gomez-Pampa, A. and A. Kaus. 1992. Taming Pinus matic variations of a 320-year-old the wilderness myth. BioScience rigida rock outcrop community. Oecologia 42:271-279. 101:353-360. Hardt, R.A. and W.T. Swank. 1997. A Attiwill, P.M. 1994. The disturbance of forest comparison of structural and ecosystems: the ecological basis for conser- compositional characteristics of southern Appalachian young

278 Natural Areas Journal Volume 20 (3), 2000 second-growth, maturing second-growth, Parker, K.C., J.L. Hamrick, A.J. Parker, and Tyrrell, L.E. 1996. National forests in the and old-growth stands. Natural Areas Jour- E.A. Stacy. 1997a. Allozyme diversity in East-ern Region: land allocation and nal 17:42-52. (): intraspecific planning for old growth. Pp. 245-273 in Hunter, M.L., Jr. 1989. What constitutes an and interspecific comparisons. American M.B. Davis, ed., Eastern Old-growth old-growth stand? Journal of Forestry Journal of Botany 84:1372-1382. Forests: Prospects for Rediscovery and 87:33-35. Parker, K.C., A.J. Parker, R.M. Beaty, M.M. Recovery. Island Press, Washington, D.C. Hunter, M.L., Jr. and A.S. White. 1997. Eco- Fuller, and T.D. Faust. 1997b. Population U.S. Forest Service. 1997. Guidance for logical thresholds and the definition of structure and spatial pattern of two coastal con-serving and restoring old-growth forest old-growth forest stands. Natural Areas populations of Ocala sand pine (Pinus clausa communities on national forests in the Journal 17:292-296. [Chapm. ex Engelm.] Vasey ex Sarg. var. Southern Region. Forestry Report R8-FR Kaufmann, M.R., W.H. Moir, and W.W. Cov- clausa D. B. Ward). Journal of the Torrey 62, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest ington. 1992. Old-growth forests: What do Botanical Society 124:22-33. Service, Southern Region, Atlanta, Ga. we know about their ecology and manage- Platt, W.J., J.W. Evans, and S.L. Rathbun. Vale, T. R. 1998. The myth of the humanized ment in the Southwest and Rocky Mountain 1988. The population dynamics of a landscape: an example from Yosemite Na- regions? Pp. 1-11 in M.R. Kaufmann, W.H. long-lived (Pinus palustris). tional Park. Natural Areas Journal Moir, and R.L. Bassett, eds., Old-growth American Naturalist 131:491-525. 18:231-236. forests in the Southwest and Rocky Moun- Pollan, M. 1991. Second Nature: A Gardener's Whitney, G.G. 1987. Some reflections on the tain regions: proceedings of a workshop. Education. Dell Publishing, New York. 304 value of old-growth forests, scientific and General Technical Report RM-213, U.S. pp. otherwise. Natural Areas Journal 7:92-99. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Runkle, J. R. 1990. Gap dynamics in an Ohio Whittaker, R.H. 1956. Vegetation of the Great Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Exper- Acer-Fagus forest and speculations on the Smoky Mountains. Ecological Monographs iment Station, Fort Collins, Colo. geography of disturbance. Canadian Journal 26:1-80. Martin, W.H. 1992. Characteristics of of Forest Research 20:632-641. Wilkinson, R.C., R.W. Britt, E.A. Spence, and old-growth mixed mesophytic forests. Spiegel, D.G. 1991. Disturbance, equilibrium, S.M. Seiber. 1978. Hurricane-tornado Natural Areas Journal 12:127-135. and environmental variability: What is "nat- dam-age, mortality, and insect infestation of McCay, D.H. 1998. Vegetation dynamics, land- ural" vegetation in a changing environment? slash pine. Southern Journal of Applied scape change, and land use history in Biological Conservation 58:1-18. Forestry 2:132-134. north-ern Florida. Ph.D. diss., University of Stahle, D.W. and P.L. Chaney. 1994. A predic- Woolfenden, G.E. and J.W. Fitzpatrick. 1984. Georgia, Athens. 127 pp. tive model for the location of ancient for- The : Demography of a McCune, B. 1988. Ecological diversity in North ests. Natural Areas Journal 14:151-158. Cooperative-breeding Bird. Monographs in American pines. American Journal of Bot- Stahle, D.W., M.K. Cleaveland, and J. G. Hehr. Population Biology 20. Princeton University any 75:353-368. 1988. North Carolina climate changes Press, Princeton, N.J. 406 pp. Myers, R.L. 1990. Scrub and high pine. Pp. re-constructed from tree rings: A.D. 372 to Wu, J. and O.L. Loucks. 1995. From balance of 150-193 in R. L. Myers and J. J. Ewel, eds., 1985. Science 240:1517-1519. nature to hierarchical patch dynamics: a Ecosystems of Florida. University of Central Trombulak, S.C. 1996. The restoration of old paradigm shift in ecology. Quarterly Florida Press, Orlando. growth: why and how? Pp. 305-320 in M.B. Re-view of Biology 70:439-466. Outcalt, K. W. 1997. An old-growth definition Davis, ed., Eastern Old-growth Forests: for sand pine forests. General Technical Prospects for Rediscovery and Recovery. Report SRS-12, U.S. Department of Island Press, Washington, D.C. Agri-culture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Asheville, N.C. 8 pp. Parker, K.C. and J.L. Hamrick. 1996. Genetic variation in sand pine (Pinus clausa). Cana- dian Journal of Forest Research 26:244-254.

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