LIFE HISTORY OF SHORTLEAF PIKE. 
21 
EXTENT AND NATURAL LIMITATIONS. 
In open-grown, vigorous stands, shortleaf successfully coppices up 
to about the eighth year, and in slow-growing, crowded, or shaded 
stands, to the tenth or twelfth years. The upper limit of size at 
which coppicing may take place ranges from diameters near the 
ground of 3 to 4 inches for vigorous individuals down to 2 to 3 inches 
for trees of slow growth. Thus the chief limitation seems to be age, 
modified by the general vigor and size of the individual stem. 
Within these limits shortleaf is known to coppice repeatedly. 
Regions of frequent fires afford opportunities to observe the effects of 
repeated burning to the ground upon younger-aged stands. Figure 7 
shows diagrammatically a fully stocked stand in Arkansas, composed 
/& 
/6 
/4 
/2 
/O 
8 
6 
Fig. 7.— Vertical section through three successive generations of shortleaf pine fire coppice. Pike County, 
Ark. (Drawn from actual stand.) 
of three successive generations of coppice resulting from fires in 
1902, 1904, and 1910. Each age class was regular and normally 
stocked. The heights averaged 17 feet for the 10-year-old, 11.5 for 
the 8-year-old, and 2.5 feet for the 2-year-old stand. Similar suc- 
cessive generations of coppice are commonly met throughout all the 
shortleaf region. Around the margin of a young stand, surface 
fires burn freely, fed by the better growth of grass and light dry 
materials deposited by the wind ; while farther within the stand there 
is less ground litter, and the shaded surface is often too moist to burn 
in the cool season when fires prevail. 
The number of successive generations of sprouts that can be pro- 
duced from an original parent seedling is not known. Young coppice 
of the second generation of sprouts is readily identified under close 
observation. It occurs abundantly except in old-field stands. Three 
