The Willamette Valley ponderosa pine is a population of the ponderosa pine (''

Pinus ponderosa ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

'') native to the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. It is adapted for

Western Oregon Western Oregon is a geographical term that is generally taken to mean the part of the U.S. state of Oregon within of the Oregon Coast, on the west side of the crest of the Cascade Range. The term is applied somewhat loosely, however, and is somet ...

's wet winter and dry summer.

History

The Willamette Valley ponderosa variant only grows on the valley floor, unlike the Douglas-fir, which grows on hillsides, and the wood is softer and easier to mill than the native hardwoods. Because of this, when early settlers used wood from the trees to build homes and cleared land for agriculture, the population was "decimated". Prior to restoration efforts, the pine survived only in scattered stands between Hillsboro and Cottage Grove. The Lewis's woodpecker and the slender-billed nuthatch (a subspecies of the

white-breasted nuthatch The white-breasted nuthatch (''Sitta carolinensis'') is a species of bird in the nuthatch family Sittidae. It is a medium-sized nuthatch, measuring approximately in length. Coloration varies somewhat along the species' range, but the are lig ...

) nest in the tree and rely on it for food–their populations were reduced along with that of the pine.

References

External links

The Nature of Cedar Mill: Willamette Valley Ponderosa Pine
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Bark Beetles and Willamette Valley Ponderosa Pine: Populations, Geographical Distribution and Management Recommendations
Pinus Trees of the Northwestern United States Willamette Valley {{conifer-stub