Pinus radiata var. radiata
| Kingdom |
Phylum |
Class |
Order |
Family |
| PLANTAE |
TRACHEOPHYTA |
CONIFEROPSIDA |
CONIFERALES |
PINACEAE |
| Scientific Name: |
Pinus radiata var. radiata |
| Species Authority: |
D.Don |
Common Name/s:
| English |
– |
Cambria Pine, Insignis Pine, Monterey Pine, Radiata Pine |
| Spanish |
– |
Pino Insigne |
|
Assessment Information
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| Red List Category & Criteria: |
Lower Risk/conservation dependent
ver 2.3
|
| Year Assessed: |
1998 |
| Annotations: |
Needs updating
|
| Assessor/s: |
Conifer Specialist Group |
| History: |
| 1997 |
– |
Endangered
(Walter and Gillett 1998)
|
|
Geographic Range
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| Range Description: |
Native stands of the type variety of Monterey Pine are found in three distinct areas of central-coastal California in San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Luis Obispo Counties. The northernmost stand is east of point Año Nuevo, the central stand 48 km to the south near Monterey and Carmel, and the southernmost stand about 105 km away in the Pico Creek-Cambria area. The north-south range is about 209 km.
The area occupied by natural stands of Monterey Pine was once well defined, even though estimates of the total area ranged from 4,860 to 6,480 ha. Precise natural limits, however, are now difficult to determine because of conspicuous amounts of new regeneration. The southern part of the forest at Año Nuevo, for example, is estimated to have increased by as much as 95 ha in recent decades. Additional trees have been planted, and these have also produced seed that led to many acres of new reproduction. Nevertheless, the total area currently occupied probably is thought to be no more than 8,000 ha.
|
| Countries: |
Native:
United States (California)
|
Habitat and Ecology
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| Habitat and Ecology: |
Monterey Pine is part of the coastal closed-cone coniferous woodland. This habitat is strongly influenced by its proximity to the Pacific Ocean from which the cold waters of southward-flowing currents result in high humidity, low temperatures, and summer fogs. The pine is seldom found more than 11 km from the sea.
Fire is a major influence affecting the extent and makeup of Monterey Pine stands. Fire is frequent, sometimes of natural causes, often accidental, and sometimes deliberately set. Graziers at Cambria, for example, burned the woods to obtain more grass. At Año Nuevo, frequent fires have helped to maintain the pine forest. Without fire, the taller and longer-lived coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) would usurp land occupied by pines. Much regeneration and a number of even-aged stands at all three main locations can be traced directly to the influence of fire.
|
| Systems: |
Terrestrial |
| Major Threat(s): |
Only half of the historical range remains undeveloped on the Monterey Peninsula. Further land developments, genetic contamination (from ornamental plants), pine pitch canker disease and forest fragmentation are of concern. The three remaining native stands of var. radiata are infected and under threat of extinction from pitch canker, a fungal disease (caused by the fungus Fusarium circinatum) native to the southeast United States and found (in 1986) to have been introduced to California. When trees begin to die of the disease, they attract bark beetles which provide a pathway for infection of other trees. In some stands, 80-90% of trees are infected. The current status of this taxon therefore needs to be reassessed.
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