Savannah River Ecology Laboratory

The 22-acre (8.9 ha) Loblolly Pine Stand Set-Aside is one of the original ten SREL habitat reserve areas which were selected to complement the old-field habitat/plant succession studies at Field 3-412 (Area #1) and Field 3-409 (Area #28). Known to researchers as Field 9-111, this Area is a small, square-shaped Set-Aside which has undergone secondary successsion for the past 46 years. Presently, the Loblolly Pine Stand Set-Aside is an undisturbed pine forest. Unlike Field 3-412, this Set-Aside is located well up on the Aiken Plateau and represents an old-field community with a soil type different from that characteristic of Field 3-412. It also differs from Field 3-412 in that the process of successional change in Field 9-111 has resulted in complete reversion to a forested community, composed primarily of loblolly pine. Field 9-111 is representative of an old-field that has undergone succession to a natural pine forest; it also is unique because it is the only Set-Aside that has remained virtually undisturbed since 1951—neither forest management activities, Site operations, nor manipulative research have been conducted in this Area.