ABSTRACT
This chapter considers multiple lines of evidence to introduce the biogeography of longleaf pine from three perspectives: historical, current, and future. Biogeographic descriptions are important for several reasons: They can be a reference for broad-scale conservation, they raise awareness of challenges and opportunities, and they are often an integration of many information sources. Because the biogeography of any given region is dynamic through time, the chapter covers the major drivers from global to local scales with a focus on the central themes of climate, fire, and human influences. The biogeographic history of longleaf pine and other pine species of the Southeast is obscured by fragmentary fossil evidence and incomplete phylogenetic studies. In the past few centuries, most of the original longleaf pine forest has been replaced by farming, establishment of short-rotation pine plantations, and urban/suburban development. From tree-ring widths of living and long-dead trees, several dendroclimatological studies have concluded that longleaf pine radial growth increases with increased growing-season moisture.
