A natural community is a group of native plants and animals that interact with each other and their environment. Natural disturbances such as fires, drought, windstorms, and floods help to shape and maintain these communities. One dominant
natural community in Arkansas was the loblolly-shortleaf pine forests. Loblolly pines are adapted to wet soils and are found
in low-lying or flat areas, while shortleaf pines prefer dry soils and are more likely to be found on slopes. Together the two
species formed open forests throughout Arkansas' bottomlands. The forests contained large pine trees spaced much farther
apart than the forests seen today. They had a diverse understory plant layer adapted to the acid soils produced by the pine
needle
Ms. Greene's ecology class compared Landsat images of Arkansas' loblolly-shortleaf pine forests dated 1985 through 2005. There
was an obvious decrease in the square miles of pine forests, ALL BUT one reason below would explain this decrease. That is
A)
fires
B)
logging
C)
urban sprawl.
D)
habitat destruction