A Study of Two Communities of the New Jersey Pine Barrens and a Comparison of Methods

Abstract

The plant life of the pine barrens of New Jersey has been an object of scientific interest for many years. Lutz ('34) states concerning the region. . . indeed, few other areas in North America have attracted such long continued and widespread attention. Stone ('11), in speaking of the area, called it of the most interesting botanical areas in the United States and of the most extensive in the middle Atlantic states left in the primeval condition. Even in more recent times, Moore ('39) spoke of the region as one of the few large wilderness areas remaining in the eastern United States. The Pine Region occupies approximately 2,000 square miles of the eastern Coastal Plain of New Jersey (Moore '39). The region is of low relief, the soils being sandy except for areas along the streams and the poorly drained depressions. The climate of the central part of this area, where the present study was made, is characterized by an annual precipitation of between 46 and 48 inches, 24 inches of which falls in the period from April through September. The frost-free period is approximately 180 days in length, lasting from around April 25 to October 20 (USDA Yearbook '41). The vegetation of the upland parts of this area is characterized by forests of pine and oak, with an understory of ericaceous shrubs and scrub oak. These forests are of all ages due to past fires and cutting. Little ('46) states that the majority of the upland sites are occupied by forests of arborescent and scrub oaks mixed with pines. The ecological aspects of the upland vegetation have been studied by both bota-