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Southeastern Conifer Forests
The Southeastern conifer forests are a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the southeastern United States. It is the largest conifer forest ecoregion east of the Mississippi River. It is also the southernmost instance of temperate coniferous forest within the Nearctic realm. Climate This ecoregion has a humid subtropical climate with precipitation highest in the warmest months. Plant communities Historic vegetation was dominated by open woodlands of longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') with an understory of wiregrass (''Aristida stricta''). Other natural communities include to pine savannas, flatwoods (pine forests with woody understories), and xeric hardwood forests. Upland longleaf pine woodland These are woodlands dominated by longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') and subject to frequent fires. The Atlantic coastal plain upland longleaf pine woodlands occur on uplands and on the higher parts of upland-wetland mosaics, while the east Gulf coastal plain interior upland lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25th in population, with roughly 4.6 million residents. Reflecting its French heritage, Louisiana is the only U.S. state with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are equivalent to counties, making it one of only two U.S. states not subdivided into counties (the other being Alaska and its boroughs). Baton Rouge is the state's capital, and New Orleans, a French Louisiana region, is its most populous city with a population of about 363,000 people. Louisiana has a coastline with the Gulf of Mexico to the south; a large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River. Much of Louisiana's lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the semi-exclave of Alaska in the northwest and the archipelago of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The United States asserts sovereignty over five Territories of the United States, major island territories and United States Minor Outlying Islands, various uninhabited islands in Oceania and the Caribbean. It is a megadiverse country, with the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest land area and List of countries and dependencies by population, third-largest population, exceeding 340 million. Its three Metropolitan statistical areas by population, largest metropolitan areas are New York metropolitan area, New York, Greater Los Angeles, Los Angel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill
The Florida longleaf pine sandhill is a forest system found on sandhills in the coastal plains of northern Florida, ranging from the panhandle to the central peninsula. Particular examples can be found in Ocala National Forest, Withlacoochee State Forest, Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park, and Eglin Air Force Base. These forests consist of stands of longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') on very well-drained, sandy hills. The stands are maintained by frequent fires. Turkey oak (''Quercus laevis''), myrtle oak (''Quercus myrtifolia ''Quercus myrtifolia'', the myrtle oak, is a North American species of oak. It is native to the southeastern United States (Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina). It is often found in coastal areas on sandy soils. It is an ev ...''), and gopher apple ('' Licania michauxii'') are common in the understory; wiregrass ('' Aristida beyrichiana'') makes up the ground layer. References {{reflist See also * Atlantic coastal plain uplan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aristida Beyrichiana
''Aristida'' is a very nearly cosmopolitan genus of plants in the grass family. ''Aristida'' is distinguished by having three awns (bristles) on each lemma of each floret. The genus includes about 300 species found worldwide, often in arid warm regions. This genus is among those colloquially called three-awns wiregrasses, speargrasses and needlegrasses. The name ''Aristida'' is derived from the Latin " arista", meaning "awn". They are characteristic of semiarid grassland. The Wiregrass Region of North America is named for '' A. stricta''. Other locales where this genus is an important component of the ecosystem include the Carolina Bays, the sandhills of the Carolinas, and elsewhere, Mulga scrub in Australia, and the xeric grasslands around Lake Turkana in Africa. Local increases in the abundance of wiregrasses is a good indicator of overgrazing, as livestock avoid them. Description ''Aristida'' stems are ascending to erect, with both basal and cauline leaves. The leave ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbaceous Layer
In ecology, stratification refers to the vertical layering of a habitat; the arrangement of vegetation in layers. It classifies the layers (sing. ''stratum'', pl. ''strata'') of vegetation largely according to the different heights to which their plants grow. The individual layers are inhabited by different animal and plant communities (stratozones). Vertical structure in terrestrial plant habitats The following layers are generally distinguished: forest floor (root and moss layers), herb, shrub, understory and canopy layers. These vegetation layers are primarily determined by the height of their individual plants, the different elements may however have a range of heights. The actual layer is characterised by the height range in which the vast majority of photosynthetic organs (predominantly leaves) are found. Taller species will have part of their shoot system in the underlying layers. In addition to the above-ground stratification there is also a “root layer”. In the broa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quercus Incana
''Quercus incana'' is a species of oak known by the common names bluejack oak, upland willow oak, sandjack oak, and cinnamon oak. It is native to the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains of the United States, from Virginia around Florida to Texas and inland to Oklahoma and Arkansas. Description ''Quercus incana'' is a tree growing to about 10 meters (33 feet) in height, with a maximum height around . The "national champion bluejack" was a specimen from Texas that was 15.5 m (51 ft) tall and 2.1 m (7 ft) in circumference, and had a crown spread of 17 m (56 ft). The trunk is short and the crooked branches form an open, irregular crown. The platy bark is dark brown or black. The leaves are generally oval and up to 10 centimeters long by 3.5 cm wide. They are glossy green on top and woolly-haired and bluish in color underneath. The name bluejack refers to this bluish and ashy appearance of the leaves. The acorn is up to 1.7 cm long by 1.6 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quercus Laevis
''Quercus laevis'', the turkey oak, is a member of the red oak group of oaks. It is native to the southeastern United States. The name turkey oak derives from the resemblance of the leaves to a turkey's foot. A Turkish and southern European species '' Quercus cerris'' is also commonly referred to as Turkey oak, so ''Quercus laevis'' is sometimes referred to as American turkey oak to distinguish it from the European species. Description ''Quercus laevis'' is a small tree, sometimes shrubby, typically only tall, though occasionally reaching . The leaves are variable in size, mostly long but occasionally just or as much as long. They have 3–7 slender lobes, deeply incised between the lobes, each lobe with 1–3 bristle teeth at the tip. The leaves turn red in Autumn. The acorns are about long, and, like other red oaks, take 18 months to mature. Distribution and habitat Turkey oak occurs on the coastal plain from Virginia south to southwestern Florida, and west to so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland
East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that east is the direction where the Sun rises: ''east'' comes from Middle English ''est'', from Old English ''ēast'', which itself comes from the Proto-Germanic *''aus-to-'' or *''austra-'' "east, toward the sunrise", from Proto-Indo-European *aus- "to shine," or "dawn", cognate with Old High German ''*ōstar'' "to the east", Latin ''aurora'' 'dawn', and Greek ''ēōs'' 'dawn, east'. Examples of the same formation in other languages include Latin oriens 'east, sunrise' from orior 'to rise, to originate', Greek ανατολή anatolé 'east' from ἀνατέλλω 'to rise' and Hebrew מִזְרָח mizraḥ 'east' from זָרַח zaraḥ 'to rise, to shine'. ''Ēostre'', a Germanic goddess of dawn, might have been a personification of both da ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland
The Atlantic coastal plain upland longleaf pine woodland is plant community found on the southern Atlantic coastal plain, in the states of southern Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and northeastern Florida. These woodlands are dominated by longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') and occur on uplands and on the higher parts of upland-wetland mosaics. They are subject to frequent fires. Soils are well- to excessively drained. Scrub oaks such as turkey oak (''Quercus laevis'') and bluejack oak (''Quercus incana'') are often in the understory. The herbaceous layer is dominated by grasses, particularly wiregrass: (''Aristida stricta'') in the north and ('' Aristida beyrichiana'') in the south. These woodlands may once have been the most widespread plant community within their range. References {{reflist See also *Florida longleaf pine sandhill The Florida longleaf pine sandhill is a forest system found on sandhills in the coastal plains of northern Florida, ranging from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xeric
Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (Ancient Greek 'dry') shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this habitat type vary greatly in the amount of annual rainfall they receive, usually less than annually except in the margins. Generally evaporation exceeds rainfall in these ecoregions. Temperature variability is also diverse in these lands. Many deserts, such as the Sahara, are hot year-round, but others, such as East Asia's Gobi Desert, become quite cold during the winter. Temperature extremes are a characteristic of most deserts. High daytime temperatures give way to cold nights because there is no insulation provided by humidity and cloud cover. The diversity of climatic conditions, though quite harsh, supports a rich array of habitats. Many of these habitats are ephemeral in nature, reflecting the paucity and seasonality of available water. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flatwoods
Flatwoods, pineywoods, pine savannas and longleaf pine–wiregrass ecosystem are terms that refer to an ecological community in the southeastern coastal plain of North America. Flatwoods are an ecosystem maintained by wildfire or prescribed fire and are dominated by longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris''), and slash pine (''Pinus elliotii'') in the tree canopy and saw palmetto ('' Serenoa repens''), gallberry (''Ilex glabra'') and other flammable evergreen shrubs in the understory, along with a high diversity of herb species.Platt, W.J. 1999. Southeastern pine savannas. In: Anderson, R.C., Fralish, J.S. & Baskin, J. (eds.) The savanna, barren, and rock outcrop communities of North America, pp. 23- 51. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Peet, R.K. & Allard, D.J. 1993. Longleaf pine vegetation of the southern Atlantic and eastern Gulf Coast regions: a preliminary classification. In: Hermann, S.M. (ed.) The longleaf pine ecosystem: ecology, restoration and management, Tall Ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aristida Stricta
''Aristida stricta'', known as wiregrass or pineland three-awn grass, is a warm-season grass native to North America. The species dominates understory vegetation in sandhills and flatwoods coastal plain ecosystems of the Carolinas in the Southeastern United States. Its appearance is characterized by villous bristles ( indument) on each side of its midrib and on the back of the involute leaf blade. Taxonomy and etymology The common name of ''Aristida stricta'', wiregrass, gave rise to the naming of the Wiregrass Region in which it is located. The species was first described by André Michaux in 1803. In 1993, the southern population of the species was split off and described as '' Aristida beyrichiana'' because of geographic and morphological differences. The two species were treated as an "''Aristida stricta'' ''sensu lato'' species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
