Pine Regeneration

Successful use of natural regeneration in managing southern pines depends on a number of factors. The establishment and development of pine regeneration is critical. Prescriptions must leave a sufficient number of seed trees to adequately regenerate the site during an average or better seed year. Sites must be properly prepared to be receptive to pine seed, and timing of harvests and site preparation must optimize the establishment and development of regeneration. 

In even-aged stands, late-rotation thinnings or preparatory cutting is recommended to expand crowns of future seed trees and to promote cone production. The seed cut must create an appropriate balance of residual trees and seed production capacity per tree to ensure adequate seed fall, and site preparation must be timed to that seed crop. In uneven-aged stands, the first cutting-cycle harvest must be heavy enough not only to create conditions suitable for the establishment of regeneration, but also to prevent suppression of regeneration before the second cutting-cycle harvest occurs. Subsequent cutting-cycle harvests must continue this developmental pattern. Regardless of system, herbicides will almost certainly be needed to control competing vegetation and enable young pine cohorts to develop successfully. 

Experience and research suggests that all four major southern pines can be managed using one or more of the even-aged or uneven-aged reproduction cutting methods that rely on natural regeneration. Certainly some forest types, such as the mixed loblolly-shortleaf pine type in the west gulf region, are amenable to any of the even-aged and uneven-aged prescriptions, whereas in other forest types, such as longleaf pine, the range of available options is perhaps narrower and requires greater care in application. Each of the systems must be implemented in a manner that takes into account the silvical characteristics of the species in question. Choosing which method to use in a particular forest type depends on proper application of available research and experience with the desired species in specific situations. Overall, these methods present feasible and economically viable alternatives to clearcutting and planting for public land managers, forest industry foresters, and NIPF landowners in the South.

• The Ecological Basis for Naturally Regenerated Pine Stands
• Even-aged Regeneration Methods
  • Clearcutting
  • Seed Tree
  • Shelterwood
• Uneven-aged Regeneration Methods
  • Selection