Flatwoods, pineywoods, pine savannas and longleaf pine–wiregrass ecosystem are terms that refer to an

ecological community In ecology, a community is a group or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area at the same time, also known as a biocoenosis, biotic community, biological community, ecological communit ...

in the southeastern

coastal plain A coastal plain (also coastal plains, coastal lowland, coastal lowlands) is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and an upland area. Formation Coastal plains can f ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Flatwoods are an ecosystem maintained by

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

prescribed fire A controlled burn or prescribed burn (Rx burn) is the practice of intentionally setting a fire to change the assemblage of vegetation and decaying material in a landscape. The purpose could be for forest management, ecological restoration, ...

and are dominated by

longleaf pine The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...

(''Pinus palustris''), and

slash pine ''Pinus elliottii'', commonly known as slash pine,Family, P. P. (1990). Pinus elliottii Engelm. slash pine. ''Silvics of North America: Conifers'', (654), 338. is a Pinophyta, conifer tree native to the Southeastern United States. Slash pine is n ...

(''Pinus elliotii'') in the tree canopy and saw palmetto (''

Serenoa repens ''Serenoa repens'', commonly known as saw palmetto, is a small palm, growing to a maximum height around . Taxonomy It is the sole species in the genus ''Serenoa''. The genus name honors American botanist Sereno Watson. Distribution and ...

''), gallberry (''

Ilex glabra ''Ilex glabra'', also known as Appalachian tea, evergreen winterberry, Canadian winterberry, gallberry, inkberry, dye-leaves and , is a species of evergreen holly native to the coastal plain of eastern North America, from coastal Nova Scotia to ...

'') 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 Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, Florida, pp. 45-81. It was once one of the dominant ecosystem types of southeastern North America. Although grasses and pines are characteristic of this system, the precise composition changes from west to east, that is, from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. In

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 25 ...

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

s even differ between the east and west side of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. The key factor maintaining this habitat type is recurring fire. Without fire, the habitat is eventually invaded by other species of woody plants. Grand Bay NOAA Nerr0739

A number of rare and endangered animals are typical of this habitat including

red-cockaded woodpecker The red-cockaded woodpecker (''Leuconotopicus borealis'') is a woodpecker endemic to the southeastern United States. It is a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Description The red-cockaded woodpecker is small- to mi ...

s (''Picoides borealis''), gopher tortoises (''

Gopherus polyphemus The gopher tortoise (''Gopherus polyphemus'') is a species of tortoise in the Family (biology), family Testudinidae. The species is native to the southeastern United States. The gopher tortoise is seen as a keystone species because it digs burrow ...

''),

frosted flatwoods salamander The frosted flatwoods salamander (''Ambystoma cingulatum'') is an endangered salamander species native to the Southeastern United States. Description It is a small (9–13.5 cm total length), elongated species of mole salamander. It has ...

s (''Ambystoma cingulatum''), and striped newts (''

Notophthalmus perstriatus The striped newt (''Notophthalmus perstriatus'') is a species of aquatic salamander native to the southeastern United States. It is a close relative of the eastern newt, with which it shares territory, and can be distinguished from the latter by ...

''). Many rare and usual herbaceous plants are found here, particularly orchids (e.g. ''

Calopogon ''Calopogon'', grass pink, is a genus of terrestrial orchids (family (biology), family Orchidaceae). The generic name is from Greek language, Greek and means "beautiful beard", referring to the cluster of hairs adorning the Labellum (botany), l ...

'' species, ''

Pogonia ophioglossoides ''Pogonia ophioglossoides'', also known the snakemouth orchid, adder's tongue or rose pogonia, is a species of orchid occurring from central Canada to the east-central and eastern United States. This species occurs in wet habitats. It is the type ...

''), sedges (e.g. ''

Rhynchospora ''Rhynchospora'' (beak-rush or beak-sedge) is a genus of about 400 species of sedges with a cosmopolitan distribution. The genus includes both annual and perennial species, mostly with erect 3-sided stems and 3-ranked leaves. The achenes bear a ...

'' species) and carnivorous plants (e.g. ''

Sarracenia ''Sarracenia'' ( or ) is a genus comprising 8 to 11 species of North American pitcher plants, commonly called trumpet pitchers. The genus belongs to the family Sarraceniaceae, which also contain the closely allied genera '' Darlingtonia'' and '' ...

'' species). A second key factor is moisture. Overall, wet pine savannas have more species than pine savannas, and the distribution of each species within a savanna is intimately connected with soil moisture regimes. Temporary ponds, and seepage areas, are therefore a critical control on plant

species composition Relative species abundance is a component of biodiversity and is a measure of how common or rare a species is relative to other species in a defined location or community.Hubbell, S. P. 2001. ''The unified neutral theory of biodiversity and biogeog ...

. Orchids and

pitcher plant Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants known as pitfall traps—a prey-trapping mechanism featuring a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. The traps of pitcher plant are considered to be "true" pitcher plants and are formed by specialized ...

s, for example, are associated with wetter locations. But even these wetter locations burn during dry periods, allowing regeneration of species of pitcher plant and

sundew ''Drosera'', which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. 2 volumes. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous ...

. Pineywoods are characterized by low

basal area Basal area is the cross-sectional area of trees at breast height (1.3m or 4.5 ft above ground). It is a common way to describe stand density. In forest management, basal area usually refers to merchantable timber and is given on a per hectare ...

and large widely spaced mature pine. Historically, the flatwoods were dominated by longleaf pine, which can live to be 500 years old. Large scale

overharvesting Overexploitation, also called overharvesting or ecological overshoot, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to ...

in conjunction with detrimental

silvicultural Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition/structure, as well as quality of forests to meet values and needs, specifically timber production. The name comes from the Latin ('forest') and ('growing'). The study of forests ...

practices like replacement with faster growing

loblolly pine ''Pinus taeda'', commonly known as loblolly pine, is one of several pines native to the Southeastern United States, from East Texas to Florida, and north to southern New Jersey. The wood industry classifies the species as a southern yellow pi ...

has drastically reduced the range of the longleaf pine ecosystem. Longleaf requires frequent fires, ideally every 1–3 years, which prevent invasion of the habitat by other tree species. Decades of fire exclusion in the Southeast have contributed to the decline of this community type. However, with the restoration of fire, and natural flooding regimes, it is possible to restore small areas of habitat.Keddy, P.A. 2009. Thinking big: a conservation vision for the southeastern coastal plain of North America. Southeastern Naturalist 8: 213-226. Some private organisations are engaged in such projects. With concerted effort, several large wilderness areas could still be restored east of the Mississippi River. Some of the largest remaining areas of this habitat type are found in

De Soto National Forest De Soto National Forest, named for 16th-century Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto, is of pine forests in southern Mississippi. It is one of the most important protected areas for the biological diversity of the Gulf Coast ecoregion of Nor ...

, Eglin Air Force Base, and

Apalachicola National Forest The Apalachicola National Forest is the largest U.S. National Forest in the state of Florida. It encompasses and is the only national forest located in the Florida Panhandle. The National Forest provides water and land-based outdoors activiti ...

References

{{Reflist Ecoregions of the United States

See also

References