The Longleaf Alliance: Identity Top of page Preferred Scientific Name. longleaf pine; Other Scientific Names. A healthy longleaf pine forest is a lively place. Effects of tree spacing on longleaf pine crown development and wind firmness need to be determined. Economics. Restored longleaf pine habitat has helped the survival of threatened and endangered species like red-cockaded woodpeckers, gopher tortoises, pine snakes, and dusky gopher frogs. Pinus palustris Mill. We are used to thinking of the rainforests and wetlands as being the most endangered ecosystems on our planet, but did you know that there is an ecosystem right here in South Carolina that is even more at risk? gopher_tortoise.jpg Gopher Tortoise, whose burrows provide important homes for many other species. Longleaf pine was found dominating the southern and southwestern slopes (though not confined to them) and ridgelines up to about 2000 ft. elevation in north Alabama and northwest Georgia. Conversely, would it be profitable to use these native species plantings as harvestable seed sources rather than as wildlife habitat? Pinus longifolia Salisb. This habitat also includes an isolated ridge starting at Pine … Birds and mammals feed on the pine’s seeds, foliage and bark; rich communities of insects and wildflowers flourish on the longleaf forest floor. Research can answer these questions. It is the longleaf pine forest. Longleaf pine habitat can contain as many as 300 different species of groundcover plants per acre, and approximately 60 percent of the amphibian and reptile species found in the Southeast. Habitat Description. Preferred Common Name. Young widely-spaced longleaf pine plantation. Pinus australis Michx. More than 30 threatened and endangered species make the longleaf pine forest their The longleaf pine is the dominant tree species in this system and is essential to its integrity, but the floral and faunal diversity of the system lies in its understory. Old-growth longleaf pine stands are the preferred habitat of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, Picoides borealis, which nests in cavities that it excavates in the trunks of living pines. Longleaf pine grass-stage seedling several weeks after low-intensity fire. Longleaf Pine Habitat [Image Description] A long-leaf pine forest. The longleaf pine forest, if regularly burned, has a parklike appearance with an understory dominated by grasses and forbs; an excellent habitat for game, especially quail, and quail hunting has long been associated with this timber type.