In time shrubs and small trees grow among the first plants and a shrubland develops.
Bare forest to hardwood forest 5 stages.
A bare rock area exists 2 soil carried by wind or water i in the holes of rock 3 lichen or moss grows on clean surface.
Seedlings of tall forest trees germinate and grow in the shelter of the shrubs and soon overtop them forming a young.
Not all hardwood forests should be managed in this way.
The diagram shows a succession from bare ground to a mature forest.
Start studying 5 steps of primary succession from bare rock to forests.
From pioneer seedlings and saplings to transition forest to young growth forest to mature forest to old growth forest.
4 plant seeds take roots in mosses and soil deposite.
The forest itself must cover a 100 square meter minimum area.
This generally is true of duke forest on upland sites.
Ecological succession is the process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time.
Following a major disturbance such as a fire or windstorm or a silvicultural treatment designed to create similar conditions pioneer species normally invades a site.
For a healthy wildlife friendly mix of different aged forest keep at least 5 percent of the woods in a young growth stage.
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The community begins with relatively few pioneering plants and animals and develops through increasing complexity until it becomes stable or self perpetuating as a climax.
Forest cover types tend to change over time through the natural process of forest succession.
This means that the final most stable stage of succession over most of the area should consist of a mixture of various species of oaks and hickories.
The time scale can be decades for example after a wildfire or even millions of years after a mass extinction.
At this point every drop of rain that falls is conserved and every leaf that falls is converted into humus.
However lowland sites along creeks and steep north facing hillsides support self sustaining stands of other hardwood species.
For instance it may not make sense for a landowner trying to produce high quality saw logs from valuable hardwood species to cut trees down too early.
Long term management for quality northern hardwood or black walnut sawtimber.
Forest succession is considered a secondary succession in most field biology and forest ecology texts but also has its own particular vocabulary.
The forest process follows a timeline of tree species replacement and in this order.
The more the forest grows the more it generates nutrients for itself.
