Dear Soco;

What we know about Pinus spp is the following;

a) They distribute in the tropical (P. caribaea, P. oocarpa, P.,,,); temperate (most Pine spp), Drylands (most dry P. spp; P. cembroides,....) and the boreal (P. resinosa,....) forests.

b) The area occupied by all forests approximates to 4,000 M ha; nearly 1/3rd of the total land area on Earth (Pan et al., 2013; Kohl et al., 2015; FAO, 2015).

c) However, Pinus spp is restricted only to some conspicuous lowlands in the tropics and we can say with some confidence above 800 m above sea level in this forest ecosystem (e.g., P. patula; P. pseudostrobus in Mexico). In Dryland forests (200 M ha) it can be found only in the semi-arid and subtropical landscapes and quite sporadically in the true deserts. In the Boral forests it is restricted mostly in the transitional, from temperate to boreal forests. In the temperate forests it can be found most frequently in the uplands of the major muntain ranges.

d) With this information one very rough approximattion would be it can be found in approx 600 M ha minus plus 200 M ha on Earth. This includes half of the temperate forests; part of the boreal; a small fraction of the dryland and a small fraction of the tropical forests.

e) Pinus spp grows well in the uplands of the major Mountain ranges of Alaska; the continuation of the Rocky and Columbian Mountains in Western USA; The Ouachita, the Ozark, the Southern Plainlands of the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, Lousiana, The Carolinas, The Smoky Mountains from Tennessee into the Virginia's up to Vermont in the eastern Mountain Ranges of USA. In Mexico, Central and South America it extends in the uplands of the Major Mountain Ranges (Western, Eastern & Southern Sierras Madre; The Transversal Neovolcanic Mountain Range; some isolated Mountains in the San Pedro Martir region, the Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts); The Southern Sierra Madre continuation into Central AMerica (Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador); The Andean MR from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina. In Europe, Scots pines are densely planted in most of northern Europe (England, France, Germany, The Scandinavean Peninsula,...) and some native forests grow well in northern Europe, the Alps, The Pyrinees and the Mediterranean Region. In The Middle East dryland forests grow well in the mountain regions of Turkey, Syria, ...In Asia it extends in the Hymalayas and the transitional zones between boreal (Taiga forests) and other cold forests of Russia. In Africa, I am not so sure, but may be can be found in the uplands of Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania (the Kilimanjaro Region). It is extensively planted in South Africa (P. radiata, P. Patula, P. pseudostrobus) but I am not sure about native pine forests. In Australia, I am not so sure but it is has been extensively planted in New Zealand (P. radiata).

Hope this info can give you some understanding on the spatial distribution of Pinus spp on Earth. I guess could be more important to describe the biomes where Pinus spp can be found.

Kind Regards

Sincerely

Jose Navar

Dear Jesús,

Thanks a lot for your answer. Certainly, your approach is an excellent option to calculate the surface covered by pines. Those roughly 400 M ha are much closer to reality than my previous guess: "no idea".