-Slash pine is the premier tree species on many sites throughout the South. Its ease of establishment and early growth, however, has extended its range to many sites where its performance has been less than ideal. For that reason, the acreage and volume of slash pine are declining. Nonetheless, it will continue to be the favored species on many sites where it is the most appropriate and product...

Asymmetrical competition determines which of two seed predators drives the evolution of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta ssp. latifolia) cones. Red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) are effective preemptive competitors in lodgepole pine forests so that red crossbills (Loxia curvirostra) are uncommon and selection from Tamiasciurus drives cone evolution. When Tamiasciurus are absent, crossbills ...

The strength and outcome of interspecific interactions often vary across the landscape because of differences in community context. We investigated how the presence or absence of pine squirrels (Tamiasciurus spp.) influences the ecology and (co)evolution of seeddispersal mutualisms between Clark’s Nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) and limber (Pinus flexilis) and whitebark (P. albicaulis) pines...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Sex allocation has been studied mainly in small herbaceous plants but much less in monoecious wind-pollinated trees. The aim of this study was to explore changes in gender segregation and sex allocation by Pinus halepensis, a Mediterranean lowland pine tree, within tree crowns and between trees differing in their size or crown shape. METHODS The production of new male and ...

The U.S. Forest Service has monitored longleaf pine cone production at sites throughout the southeastern United States for over 60 years. Data from multi-decadal surveys have supported our understanding of variability stand-level as it relates to environmental and ecological processes, more broadly, how operates a masting species. Cones are counted each spring using visual that follow standard ...

The reproductive organs of some plants self-heat, release scent, and attract pollinators. The relations among these processes are not well understood, especially in the more ancient, nonflowering gymnosperm lineages. We describe the influence of plant volatiles in an obligate pollination mutualism between an Australian Macrozamia cycad (a gymnosperm with male and female individuals) and its spe...

Red pine cone and barks combined with red pine wood particles in various proportions were used as the raw materials for one and three layered experimental particleboard manufacturing in laboratory conditions. The pine cones and barks have higher lignin, but lower holocellulose content compare to wood. For bark-based panels, the highest MOR (2.52 MPa) corresponded to the lowest thickness swellin...