  For
the most part, plant communities grow and change in a predictable order.
This order is known as forest succession. If an open field remains undisturbed,
shrubs and saplings will seed in the field over time and become a young,
or early
successional, forest. Early successional species
tend to be those with light seeds that are blown into an area by the wind.
These species are also shade intolerant, that is, they require open sunlight
to grow. As the forest matures, early successional and short-lives species
like aspen, paperbirch and jack pine will die and late-successional
and shade tolerant species like sugar maple, basswood, and hemlocks will
begin to dominate. Eventually, the forest will grow from an early-successional
to a mature, or late-successional, forest. |
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