Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) irregular shelterwood stand development and red-cockaded woodpecker management: a case study

The overstory and midstory of a loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) irregular shelterwood stand in the Coastal Plain of South Carolina were inventoried 17 yr after a sawtimber and pulpwood harvest and again 12 yr later. At the time of the first inventory, a dense (2482 stems ha-1), small (7.3 cm average dbh, 7.9 m average height) midstory pine population had developed underneath a relatively sparse (10.4 m2 ha-1), tall (24 m) pine overstory. Although 38% of the midstory stems and 9% of the overstory stems died during the 12 yr study period, the stand was too dense to have any value as a red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) colony site even though the overstory pines survived in sufficient numbers and were large enough to provide potential cavity trees. The stand had ample basal area and stocking of pines greater than 25 cm dbh to be acceptable foraging habitat. Extrapolating the 1987 diameter distribution 12 growing seasons indicated that the midstory would continue self-thinning to 100 stems ha-1, and the overstory would grow to about 10 stems ha-1 in all dbh classes