Eastern White Pine

More info for the terms: fire use, prescribed fire

The following Research Project Summaries provide information on prescribed
fire use and postfire response of plant community species, including eastern
white pine, that was not available when this species review was originally
written:

• Prescribed burning experiments in red and eastern white pine forests of
  eastern Ontario


• Effects of surface fires in a mixed red and eastern white pine stand
  in Michigan


• Early postfire response of southern Appalachian Table Mountain-pitch
  pine stands to prescribed fires in North Carolina and Virginia

eastern white pine
northern white pine
white pine
northern pine
soft pine
Weymouth pine
pin blanc

Eastern white pine is a large, native, evergreen conifer.  It grows
rapidly and in 40 years can be 60 feet (18.3 m) tall and 8 to 10 inches
(20-25 cm) in d.b.h. [7].  Individuals of 150 feet (46 m) and 40 inches
(102 cm) in d.b.h. were common in virgin forests.  Eastern white pine
commonly reaches 200 years of age and may exceed 450 years [68].  In
closed stands, boles are free of branches for over two-thirds of their
length.  Needles are 2.5 to 5.0 inches (6-13 cm) long, and the winged
seeds are about 0.8 inches (2 cm) long.  The roots are widespreading and
moderately deep without a distinct taproot [20].

Eastern white pine is distributed from Newfoundland west to extreme
southeastern Manitoba and south to the Great Lake States, along the
Atlantic seaboard to New Jersey, and in the Appalachian Mountains to
northern Georgia.  It also occurs in Iowa, western Kentucky, western
Tennessee, and Delaware [31,68].

More info for the terms: competition, fire regime, forb, fuel, low-severity fire, mesic, natural, seed, shrub

Eastern white pine is moderately fire resistant.  Mature trees survive
most surface fires because they have thick bark, branch-free boles, and
a moderately deep rooting habit.  Younger trees are not as fire
resistant [68].  The needles have relatively low resin content so are
not highly flammable [30].

Forests dominated or codominated by eastern white pine have different
FIRE REGIMES depending on site and associated species.  The natural fire
regime in eastern white pine-red pine forests consists of nonlethal
surface fires at 5- to 50-year intervals punctuated by severe
stand-replacing fires at longer intervals.  In the Boundary Waters Canoe
Area in Minnesota, low-severity fire intervals averaged 36 years, and
severe fire intervals averaged 160 years.  Eastern white pine forests
growing on more mesic sites with a substantial shade-tolerant component
probably undergo only one fire every 150 to 350 years [16,17].  Some
large individuals survive or escape severe fires and serve as seed
sources for a new stand.  Severe fire creates large open areas with ash
or mineral seedbeds and reduces competition, good conditions for eastern
white pine regeneration [19,65].

The typical fuel type under eastern white and red pine stands is an
organic layer 2 to 4 inches (5-10 cm) deep, a continuous needle layer, a
moderate forb and shrub layer, and a moderately dense understory.
Ground fires spread slowly in this fuel type.  Dry, windy conditions are
required for fires to crown and have a high rate of spread [23].

FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find FIRE REGIMES".

More info for the terms: competition, cone, fire intensity, forest, herbaceous, litter, surface fire

Prescribed fire is used for eastern white pine seedbed preparation.  Two
fires conducted in consecutive years are recommended before the first
partial cut of a shelterwood system.  A fire conducted after the partial
cut may be too hot because of slash and may cause mortality of the
remaining trees.  The first fire should be in the spring before the
understory leaves emerge so that the fire is hot enough to remove most
of the soil surface organic material.  A second fire after the leaves
emerge the following year helps reduce competition.  A suggested
reasonable fire intensity for preparing a seedbed and controlling
competition is 116 to 173 btu/s/ft (400-600 kW/m).  Extreme care must be
taken if prescribed burning stands younger than 80 years old [61].

Two consecutive annual fires in a 90-year-old eastern white and red pine
stand in Ontario improved the conditions necessary for pine
regeneration.  The fires were low in intensity (22 to 23 btu/s/ft [78-79
kW/m]) and did not harm the overstory.  The litter layer was consumed,
and the understory changed from one dominated by balsam fir saplings to
one dominated by herbaceous species.  However, very little eastern white
pine reproduction occurred in the first 3 postfire years [36].

The white pine cone beetle larvae spend 9 to 10 months a year in dead
cones on the forest floor.  The beetle can be controlled by a
low-severity surface fire in early spring before it emerges [66].

More info on this topic.

More info for the term: phanerophyte

Phanerophyte

More info for the terms: competition, fern, hardwood, seed, tree, xeric

Eastern white pine occurs on a variety of sites along the full moisture
gradient from wet bogs and moist streambottoms to xeric sand plains and
rocky ridges [7,67].  In Maine and New Brunswick, eastern white pine
occurs in well0drained, raised bogs [8]; in Michigan, it occurs on sand
dunes [42].  In the southern Appalachian Mountains and in Pennsylvania,
pure stands mainly occur on northerly aspects, in coves, and on
streambottoms [11].  Eastern white pine is common on the east shore of
lakes where blowdowns create openings for regeneration [28].

In New England, eastern white pine usually occurs between sea level and
2,000 feet (610 m) in elevation; on Catamount Mountain in the Adirondack
Mountains of New York, it occurs up to 3,168 feet (966 m).  In the
southern Appalachian Mountains, it occurs between 1,200 and 3,500 feet
(370-1,070 m) [11,28]

Eastern white pine grows on nearly all soil types within its range.  It
is most competitive on fairly infertile sandy soils, such as
well-drained outwash soils.  On clay or poorly drained soils, eastern
white pine occurs only as individuals or in small groups.  It grows on
fine sandy loams and silty loams on disturbed sites if there is little
hardwood competition [68].

Eastern white pine is the characteristic old-field species in New
England.  Nearly pure stands develop on old fields where seed is ample
and sod is intact [53].  In the Hudson River valley, eastern white pine
dominates the finer textured, less rocky old-field sites, whereas oak
communities dominated the coarser textured, rockier sites [15].

Tree associates of eastern white pine not mentioned in Distribution and
Occurrence include sweet birch (Betula lenta), bigtooth aspen (Populus
grandidentata), quaking aspen (P. tremuloides), black cherry (Prunus
serotina), and black oak (Quercus velutina) [11]. 

Understory species are scarce in pure stands of eastern white pine.  On
dry sites, associates include blueberries (Vaccinium spp.), wintergreen
(Gaultheria procumbens), dwarf bush-honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera),
sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina), bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum),
clubmosses (Lycopodium spp,), and broomsedge (Andropogon virginicus).
On moist, rich sites associates include wood sorrel (Oxalis spp.),
partridgeberry (Mitchella repens), wild sarsaparilla (Aralia
nudicaulis), jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), and hay-scented
fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula).  Other associates include bigleaf
aster (Aster macrophyllus), Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense),
and bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) [11,41,25].

More info on this topic.

This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

     1  Jack pine
     5  Balsam fir
    14  Northern pin oak
    15  Red pine
    18  Paper birch
    19  Gray birch - red maple
    20  White pine - northern red oak - red maple
    21  Eastern white pine
    22  White pine - hemlock
    23  Eastern hemlock
    24  Hemlock - yellow birch
    25  Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
    26  Sugar maple - basswood
    27  Sugar maple
    30  Red spruce - yellow birch
    31  Red spruce - sugar maple - beech
    32  Red spruce
    33  Red spruce - balsam fir
    35  Paper birch - red spruce - balsam fir
    37  Northern white-cedar
    39  Black ash - American elm - red maple
    43  Bear oak
    44  Chestnut oak
    45  Pitch pine
    51  White pine - chestnut oak
    53  White oak
    57  Yellow-poplar
    59  Yellow-poplar - white oak - northern red oak
    60  Beech - sugar maple
   108  Red maple

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

   FRES10  White - red - jack pine
   FRES11  Spruce - fir
   FRES13  Loblolly - shortleaf pine
   FRES15  Oak - hickory
   FRES17  Elm - ash - cottonwood
   FRES18  Maple - beech - birch
   FRES19  Aspen - birch

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the term: forest

   K093  Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
   K095  Great Lakes pine forest
   K096  Northeastern spruce - fir forest
   K097  Southeastern spruce - fir forest
   K099  Maple - basswood forest
   K100  Oak - hickory forest
   K101  Elm - ash forest
   K102  Beech - maple forest
   K104  Appalachian oak forest
   K106  Northern hardwoods
   K107  Northern hardwoods - fir forest
   K108  Northern hardwoods - spruce forest
   K110  Northeastern oak - pine forest
   K111  Oak - hickory - pine forest

More info for the terms: low-severity fire, prescribed fire, severity

Once eastern white pine reaches 60 feet (18 m) in height and develops
rough bark on the lower bole, it tolerates low-severity fire [32,69].
Large individuals usually survive moderate-severity fires [69].  Fires
of more than moderate severity during the first 50 years may destroy the
entire stand [60].

Total scorching of foliage typically kills eastern white pine [32], but
scorching less than 50 percent is usually not lethal [35,61,66].  Two
stands, in which 96 percent of the eastern white and red pines were 9
inches (23 cm) in diameter or larger, were prescribed burned in late
spring (May 31 and June 15).  The percent crown scorch was estimated
after the fire and 1-year mortality was assessed.  There was no
mortality in trees with less than 46 percent crown scorch.  Mortality
was 50 percent in the 81 to 85 percent crown scorch class and 100
percent in trees with more than 96 percent crown scorch [35].

Many eastern white pine were crown scorched up to 50 percent in a March
prescribed fire ranging in intensity from 30 to 250 btu/s/ft (100-850
kW/m), but all buds emerged later in the spring [66].

A laboratory study in August in which eastern white pine seedlings were
exposed to different temperature regimes for 4 minutes, demonstrated
even less mortality with high percentages of needle scorch.  The
seedlings withstood up to 90 percent needle scorch with only 10 to 20
percent mortality.  The author suggests that there may be two lethal
temperatures, one that kills needles and one that kills terminal buds.
Therefore percent needle scorch may not be directly related to
mortality in eastern white pine [35].

Deep-burning ground fires may cause root injuries that are more serious
than crown injury.  Where 75 percent or more of the major surface roots
had been killed or severely damaged by fire, but only a third or less of
the crown was scorched, mortality 3 years after the fire was 100, 60,
and 40 percent for small trees (2 to 6 inches [5-15 cm] in diameter),
medium trees (7 to 11 inches [16-29 cm]), and large trees (greater than
12 inches [30 cm]), respectively.  For trees with less than 25 percent
root kill or injury and more than two-thirds of the crown scorched,
mortality for small, medium, and large trees was only 80, 46, and 14
percent, respectively [32].

Heated air at 144 degrees Fahrenheit (62 deg C) applied for 1 minute
killed 50 percent of 5-year-old eastern white pine seedlings that
averaged 16 inches (40 cm) in height, 0.2 inch (0.5 cm) butt diameter,
and less than 0.04 inch (0.1 cm) in bark thickness [24].

Eastern white pine provides food and habitat for numerous wildlife
species.  Songbirds and small mammals eat eastern white pine seeds.
Snowshoe hares, white-tailed deer, and cottontails browse the foliage;
the bark is eaten by various mammals [68].  Pocket gophers graze the
roots of seedlings and young trees [21].

Northeastern pine forests can support a rich community of breeding birds
[4].  Bald eagles build nests in living eastern white pine, usually at a
main branch located below the crown top [34].  Eastern white pine,
especially those with broken tops, provide valuable habitat for
cavity-nesting wildlife [10].

Young black bear cubs use large eastern white pine to climb to safety.
In northeastern Minnesota, black bear mothers and cubs spent more than
95 percent of the time in April and May within 600 feet (180 m) of
either an eastern white pine or an eastern hemlock larger than 20 inches
(50 cm) in d.b.h. [48].

More info for the terms: codominant, forest, hardwood, tree, xeric

Eastern white pine frequently dominates or codominates xeric northern
pine forests [7,40].  In mixed hardwood forests, it often occurs as a
scattered dominant tree towering above the surrounding hardwoods
[19,40].

Publications listing eastern white pine as dominant or codominant are as
follows:

A multivariate analysis of forest communities in the western Great Smoky
   Mountains National Park [3]
The vegetation of Wisconsin [7]
The principal plant associations of the Saint Lawrence Valley [9]
Field guide:  forest habitat types of northern Wisconsin [25]
Plant communities of Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, U.S.A.  [29]
A classification of the deciduous forest of eastern North America [37]
Virgin plant communities of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area [41]
Forest associations in the Harvard Forest [53]
Plant community pattern analysis:  a cartographic approach applied in
   the Lac des Deux-Montagnes area (Quebec) [62]

More info for the term: tree

Tree

More info for the terms: cone, fire management, frequency, seed

The frequency of eastern white pine is lower in today's forests than in
presettlement forests.  Eastern white pine was heavily logged in the
1800's in the north-central United States.  Regeneration after the early
logging was poor because of the lack of seed trees and the destruction
of remaining seedlings and saplings by fire [39,41].  In the
northeastern United States, eastern white pine temporarily increased in
abundance through colonization of abandoned fields and pastures.  Many
of these stands reached commercial maturity by the early 1900's and were
harvested.  Hardwoods, which had invaded the understory, now dominate
many of these old-field sites [46].

The two-cut shelterwood method is recommended for maximizing
regeneration of eastern white pine.  The first cut removes 40 to 60
percent of the overstory, and the final cut occurs 5 to 10 years later
after seedlings are well established.  Established individuals respond
well to release [67].

Two of the more damaging pests of eastern white pine are the white pine
weevil (Pissodes strobi) and white pine blister rust (Cronartium
ribicola) [67,68].  Eastern white pine is infrequently planted in the
north-central region because of the inevitable damage caused by the rust
[40].  See Fire Management slot for control of the white pine cone
beetle (Conophthorus coniperda), which is often responsible for complete
crop failure.

The growth rate of all pine species in the New Jersey Pine Barrens
except eastern white pine has decreased since the 1950's; this decrease
in growth rate may be the caused by acid rain [22].  Eastern white pine
germination and emergence are not greatly affected by soil acidity
caused by acid rain [47,50].

     CT  DE  GA  IL  IN  IA  KY  ME  MD  MA
     MI  MN  NH  NJ  NY  NC  OH  PA  RI  SC
     TN  VT  VA  WV  WI  MB  NB  NF  ON  PE
     PQ

Eastern white pine browse is of intermediate preference to white-tailed
deer [12].  Although available, it was not browsed by moose in Ontario [6].

More info on this topic.

More info for the term: cone

Eastern white pine male strobili open and shed pollen in April through
June, depending on latitude.  Fertilization occurs 13 months after
pollination.  Cones ripen and seeds are dispersed August through
September, about 2 years after cone initiation [7,26].  Seeds germinate
in the spring [7].  Terminal shoot growth is usually completed by the
end of June [68].

More info for the terms: cover, fire severity, herbaceous, seed, severity

Eastern white pine colonizes burns if a seed source is nearby
[5,18,32,33].

A thick organic layer is an unfavorable seedbed because roots of new
seedlings desiccate before reaching mineral soil.  The higher the fire
severity, the more organic material is removed.  However, severe fire
also consumes seeds and rhizomes and thus reduces the early postfire
herbaceous cover which serves to shelter young seedlings from heat.
Initially, as the amount of postfire shelter is reduced by increasing
fire severity, eastern white pine survival decreases.  Eventually,
however, the reduction in organic matter depth is sufficient to
compensate for the lack of shelter and the survival of eastern white
pine increases.  Establishment is highest when mineral soil is exposed
[56].

Fire wounds provide entry to fungi which cause heart rot in eastern
white pine [32].

More info for the terms: root crown, secondary colonizer, seed, tree

   Tree without adventitious-bud root crown
   Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)
   Secondary colonizer - on-site seed
   Secondary colonizer - off-site seed

More info for the terms: cover, density, lichen, litter, seed

Eastern white pine begins producing cones when 5 to 10 years old, but
good seed production does not occur until trees are at least 20 to 30
years old [26].  Good seed years occur every 3 to 5 years, with some
seed produced in intervening years [7].

Seeds are dispersed primarily by wind.  Seeds travel 200 feet (60 m)
within a stand and more than 700 feet (210 m) in the open.  Animals also
disperse seeds.  Gray squirrel seed caches were responsible for white
pine reproduction under red oak (Quercus rubra) stands in southern New
Hampshire [68].  White-footed mice and red-backed voles bury caches
containing 20 to 30 eastern white pine seeds beneath the litter but on
top of the mineral soil.  Caches that escape revisitation and decimation
produce seedlings [1].

Favorable seedbeds include moist mineral soil, mosses (Polytrichum
spp.), and short grass cover of light to medium density.  Dry mineral
soil, pine litter, lichen, and very thin or very thick grass covers are
poor seedbeds in full light but adequate in shade [68].  Eastern white
pine shows very limited delayed emergence the second year after seed
fall, and none after 3 years [57].

Eastern white pine colonizes disturbed sites, but a nurse crop of aspen
(Populus spp.), birch (Betula spp.), or other pioneer species promotes
best regeneration [7].  When colonizing old fields, eastern white pine is
more likely to become established in openings than under herbs.  Even
though seedling emergence and survivorship are higher under herbs, so
too is seed and seedling predation by rodents [14].

Eastern white pine seedlings require at least 20 percent of full light
for survival.  They achieve maximum height growth in 45 percent of full
light [51].  Early growth is slow, but between 10 and 20 years of age,
the average annual height growth is about 16 inches (40 cm) per year
[68].

Eastern white pine does not reproduce vegetatively [68].

More info on this topic.

More info for the terms: climax, forest, surface fire

Eastern white pine is intermediate in shade tolerance [2] and is present
in all successional stages.  It is a pioneer species on old fields and
other disturbed sites, a long-lived successional species, and a
physiographic climax species on dry, sandy soils [53,68].  Eastern white
pine is sometimes a component of climax forests on certain sites such as
steep slopes and ridge tops where windfall provides regeneration
opportunities [54].

Eastern white pine forests frequently establish after disturbance and
are even-aged.  However, uneven-aged forests also occur.  Eastern white
pine has dominated an uneven-aged old-growth forest in southern Ontario
for at least 700 years.  In this forest, canopy gaps created by the
death of individual trees from surface fire or windthrow enable eastern
white pine to regenerate [44].

Eastern white pine succeeds aspen postdisturbance forests.  The diffuse
aspen canopy allows enough light for eastern white pine to regenerate
[52].  Bigtooth aspen colonized and was the early dominant on a burn in
northern Michigan, but 53 years after the fire, eastern white pine and
red maple (Acer rubrum) were dominant [49].

More shade-tolerant species succeed eastern white pine.  In the Boundary
Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota, it begins to be replaced by white spruce
(Picea glauca), eastern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis), balsam fir
(Abies balsamea), and paper birch (Betula papyrifera) about 360 years
after fire [16].

Strobus strobus (L.) Small

The currently accepted scientific name of eastern white pine is Pinus
strobus L. [31]. Little [31] recognizes two varieties: the typical
variety and Chiapas white pine (Pinus strobus var. chiapensis Mart.).
Chiapas white pine, native to the mountains of southern Mexico and
Guatemala, is also recognized as a separate species, Pinus chiapensis
(Mart.) Andresen [43]. This review discusses the typical variety,
eastern white pine.

More info for the terms: cover, herbaceous

Eastern white pine is used extensively for stabilizing strip-mine
spoils, especially in northern Appalachian coal fields.  Eastern white
pine has a lower soil pH limit of 4.0.  Seedlings tolerate limited shade
from herbaceous ground cover better than other pine species [58,64].
Eastern white pine growth is adversely affected by high levels of
soluble salts and by the depth of the mine soil.  These effects can be
avoided by selecting nonpyritic sandstone material for surface placement
and by minimizing soil compaction [58].

Eastern white pine planted on bituminous coal mine spoils in
Pennsylvania averaged 6.1 inches (15.5 cm) d.b.h. and 27 feet (8.2 m) in
height after 30 years [63].

Eastern white pine is a valuable timber species in the eastern United
States and Canada.  The soft wood is of medium strength, easily worked,
and stains and finishes well.  It is used for doors, moldings, trim,
siding, paneling, cabinet work, and furniture [20,68].