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Pine Barrens ]] Pine barrens, also known as "pine plains", "sand plains", "pinelands", "pine bush", and "pitch pine-scrub oak barrens", occur throughout the northeastern U.S. from New Jersey to Maine (see Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens ) as well as the Midwest and Canada . Pine barrens are plant communities that occur on dry, acidic, infertile soils dominated by Grasses , Forb s, low Shrub s, and scattered Trees ; most extensive barrens occur in large areas of sandy Glacial Deposit s, including Outwash Plain s, lakebeds, and outwash Terraces along Rivers . The most common trees are the Jack Pine , Red Pine , Pitch Pine , Blackjack Oak , and Scrub Oak ; a scattering of larger Oak s is not unusual. The Understory is composed of grasses, Sedge s, and forbs, many of them common in dry Prairies . Plants of the Heath family, such as Blueberries and Bearberry , and shrubs such as prairie willow and Hazelnut are common. These species have adaptations that permit them to survive or regenerate well after fire. Pine barrens support a number of rare species, including Lepidoptera such as the Karner Blue butterfly (''Lycaeides melissa samuelis'') and the Barrens Buckmoth (''Hemileuca maia''), and plants such as the Sand-plain Gerardia (''Agalinis acuta''). Barrens are dependent on fire to prevent invasion by woody species. In the absence of fire, barrens will proceed through Successional Stages from Savanna to closed-canopy Forest . Open barrens are now rare and imperiled globally, as suppression of Wildfire s has allowed woody vegetation to take over in most one-time barrens. In North America , barrens exist primarily in the Midwest and along the east coast. SEE ALSO SOURCES
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