Old-field Succession

Today in my environmental science class we learned about old-field succession. It occurs when farmland is abandoned. Old-field succession can be easily seen in climax community which is final and stable community. This is because old-field succession basically concludes to our mind that the long roots of the taller plants absorbs most of the water in the soil which makes pioneer plants to die from lack sunlight and water. Therefore I researched about this topic for me to have better understanding of tropical rain forest.

According to my research I have found out that good example of old-field succession is tropical rain forest. Imagine that you are in rain forest, you can clearly draw the huge tall trees around you. Trees in the tropical rain forest are most likely to be tall. Yes, it is because the taller trees absorbs the sunlight and also the roots suck up the water in the soil. Therefore the smaller one would likely to die.

By doing this research, I clearly understood the concept of old field succession which is basically a type of a secondary succession that occurs when farmland is abandoned.  Also when a farmer stops cultivating a field, grasses and weeds quickly grow and cover the abandoned land. After that the taller plants take advantages than smaller plants.


http://bio.rutgers.edu/~gb102/lab_13/13i3l.html