Southeastern Piedmont (Clemson, SC)

  • Clemson University Experimental Forest
  • Piedmont pine and pine-hardwood forest
  • Fire return interval: annual to 30 years
  • Represents 15 million hectares in the southeastern Piedmont
  • Dominant species include loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) and shortleaf pine (P. echinata) with mixtures of oak and other hardwoods in the canopy and subcanopy.
  • The region is largely forested with second- or third-growth timber resulting from reforestation of abandoned farmland and harvesting since the Great Depression.
  • South Carolina suppresses 4500 wildfires each year.
  • At least one catastrophic wildfire (over 400 hectares) has occurred in South Carolina each year since 1970.