Succession and the Effect of Pioneer PlantsLook at the two series of photographs of successional stages of abandoned farm fields. Describe what you think the temperature and moisture conditions would be like at ground level at each successional stage. Succession at U of I research siteOne year after field abandonment Secondary succession in abandoned agricultural fields (Buell-Small Succession Study - New Jersey)Discuss the role pioneer plants play in modification of the environment leading to their replacement by other species of plants. After 30 years of succession what was once a corn field can become a young forest. How can such a dramatic change take place? Look at the pictures of the corn field. Do you see plants that have characteristics of pioneer plants? What do you think would happen if the "weedy" fields that develop a few years after a field is abandoned were burned every few years? Would a forest eventually develop? |