CONIFEROUS FOREST COMMUNITIES 



241 



consider it a part of the oak-hickory forest in which repeated fires 

 have caused the oaks and hickories to be replaced, in part, by the 

 short-leaf pine (Pinus ecUnata) or by some of the other species of 

 southern pines. 



Fig. 107.— Southeastern coniferous forest of long-leaf pine, loblolly pine, and 

 short-leaf pine. (Photograph by E. Black. Courtesy of H. L. Shantz and the 

 U. S. Department of Agriciilture.) 



144. Coniferous Forest Communities.— Coniferous forests are 

 found for the most part, where the seasonal distribution of the rain 

 is similar to that in the deciduous forest region but where the annual 

 precipitation and the temperatures are too low to support deciduous 

 forests. An exception to this statement is found, however, in the 

 southeastern part of the United States where the greater part of the 

 coastal plain south of New Jersey and east of Texas, with the excep- 

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