Yes, but again, it don’t think it’s evolutionary strategy, rather than the content of the needles is what is needed, and the acidification is just a knock on effect. Pines in particular are disturbance specialists - they take off after fire, and drop relatively few needles during establishment when competition from grasses and other plants is at the highest. When they get larger they don’t have to worry (,as it were) because you can choke out anything below you just by being big