N.J. Admin. Code § 7:50-6.43

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 11, June 3, 2024

Section 7:50-6.43 - Pinelands Native Forest Types

(a) For purposes of this Part, the following constitute Pinelands Native Forest Types:

1. Upland Native Forest Types:

i. Oak-dominated Native Forest Type. This forest type is found throughout the Pinelands in areas where fires were naturally infrequent, such as broad uplands with loamy soil, mesic coastal sites, the Pinelands periphery, or in the lee of wetlands firebreaks. This forest type has the following characteristics:

(1) Tree-oak cover is 50 to 100 percent. Oak species can include various combinations of white oak, scarlet oak, black oak, chestnut oak, and post oak throughout the Pinelands, plus southern red oak, willow oak and swamp chestnut oak in peripheral or southern parts of the Pinelands, especially mesic sites;

(2) Pine cover (pitch pine, shortleaf pine and rarely Virginia pine) is typically under 50 percent and often under five percent;

(3) Hickory, mesophytic hardwoods (red maple, sweet gum, beech, tulip poplar, flowering dogwood) and holly can be present in small amounts in peripheral or southern parts of the Pinelands, especially mesic sites;

(4) Total canopy cover is typically between 75 and 100 percent, but less canopy cover can occur;

(5) Shrub oak cover (blackjack oak, scrub oak) is absent or under five percent; and

(6) Shrub cover is dominated by black huckleberry and lowbush blueberry, as well as dangleberry, mountain laurel, sweet pepperbush or inkberry in more mesic sites.

ii. Pine-Dominated Native Forest Type. This forest type is found in the central Pinelands where fires were infrequent or moderately frequent, or where a cutting or clearing history favored regeneration of pine over tree-oak. This forest type has the following characteristics:

(1) Pine cover (pitch pine, shortleaf pine and rarely Virginia pine) is typically over 50 percent. Pine cover can be as low as 25 percent in some open canopy forms of pine upland;

(2) Tree-oak cover ranges from 25 to 50 percent in pine-oak forest, five to 25 percent in pine-oak upland and under five percent in pine upland, depending on forest stand history. Oak species can include black oak, post oak, scarlet oak, chestnut oak, white oak and southern red oak;

(3) Total canopy cover is typically between 75 and 100 percent, but less canopy cover can occur;

(4) Shrub oak cover is absent or under five percent;

(5) Low shrub cover is dominated by black huckleberry and lowbush blueberry in most types; and

(6) One pine upland type, pine-sedge upland, is often associated with old clearings and has a more open pine canopy, minimal shrub cover and a ground cover dominated by Pennsylvania sedge or grasses.

iii. Pine-Shrub Oak Native Forest Type. This forest type is found in the large, frequently burned firesheds of the central Pinelands, or on low sandy terraces adjacent to pitch pine lowlands or other wetlands or the central Pinelands. This forest type has the following characteristics:

(1) Pine cover (pitch pine, shortleaf pine) is over 25 percent and typically 50 to 75 percent;

(2) Tree-oak cover is absent or under five percent in most pine-shrub oak "barrens" types, and five to 25 percent in pine-oak-shrub oak "woodland" types. If present, tree-oak species often include black oak, post oak, arborescent blackjack oak, and scarlet oak, and rarely chestnut oak, white oak and southern red oak;

(3) Shrub oak cover (blackjack oak, scrub oak) is over five percent and is typically between 25 and 100 percent;

(4) Low shrub cover is dominated by black huckleberry and lowbush blueberry; and

(5) Ground cover often includes early successional species such as bearberry, pyxie moss, pine barrens hudsonia, sandwort, Pennsylvania sedge, little bluestem, and lichens, especially where an open pine canopy is maintained.

iv. Pine Plains Native Forest Type. This forest type is found only in the central Pinelands and is characterized by a dense sprout-growth of dwarf serotinous pitch pine often less than six feet tall. This forest type has the following characteristics:

(1) Dwarf pitch pine cover dominates this shrubland canopy and is typically over 50 percent, but may drop below 50 percent for a few years after top killing fire. Heights are typically between three to 12 feet but can reach 15 to 18 feet at ecotones. Serotiny is near 100 percent;

(2) Shrub oak cover (blackjack oak, scrub oak) is over five percent, and usually between 25 and 50 percent;

(3) Arborescent pine cover over six meters tall and tree-oak cover are absent or rare;

(4) Low shrub cover is dominated by black huckleberry and lowbush blueberry; and

(5) Ground cover includes early successional species such as bearberry, pyxie moss, pine barrens hudsonia, Pennsylvania sedge, little bluestem, and lichens; also broom crowberry locally in sandy openings.

v. Upland Savannas and Grassland Native Forest Type. This forest type is largely the product of succession after severe man-made disturbance such as agriculture. This forest type has the following characteristics:

(1) Ground cover is dominated by native grasses, especially little bluestem, switchgrass, panic grasses, broomsedge, wiregrass and/or Pennsylvania sedge;

(2) Shrub cover is less than 25 percent and can include sweetfern, black huckleberry and lowbush blueberry;

(3) An open tree stratum of pine or oak exists with between five and 25 percent cover, although greater cover may be possible; and

2. Wetland Native Forest Types, as described at 7:50-6.4 and 6.5.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:50-6.43

New Rule, R.2010 d.029, effective 3/1/2010.
See: 41 N.J.R. 2402(a), 42 N.J.R. 629(a).
Former N.J.A.C. 7:50-6.43, Application requirements, was recodified to N.J.A.C. 7:50-6.44.