Why this special issue is focused on the high elevation five-needle white pines

Abstract

Across the higher mountains of the western United States and Canada and in northern Mexico, there are six species of pines informally referred to by researchers and managers as the "high elevation five-needle white pines" (e.g., Tomback et al., 2011; Keane et al., 2011; H5II High Elevation Five Needle Pine Research Conference (high-five pines.org). These pines are related at the subgenus level (Family Pinaceae, Genus Pinus, Subgenus Strobus) but classified within two different taxonomic pine sections, reflecting their different evolutionary affinities: Section Quinquefoliae-whitebark (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.), limber (Pinus flexilis James), southwestern white (Pinus strobiformis Engelm.); and Section Parrya-foxtail (Pinus balfouriana Balf.), Rocky Mountain bristlecone (Pinus aristata Engelm.), and Great Basin bristlecone (Pinus longaeva D.K. Bailey) (Gernandt et al., 2005; Hao et al., 2015). The species in Quinquefoliae and Parrya are characterized by needles in fascicles of five-thus "five-needle" pines.

Citation

Tomback, Diana F.; Keane, Robert E.; Sniezko, Richard A. 2022. Why this special issue is focused on the high elevation five-needle white pines. Forest Ecology and Management. 521: 120425.