Answer to Question 1Your students need to have information about the two forest areas such as the
length of time since the last tree harvest, the numbers of trees that were cut, and
whether the area was left to naturally recover or whether it was replanted.
Encourage your students to think about the kinds of trees that are found in
undisturbed forest habitats in your area.
Answer to Question 2All forests are a product of ecological succession. A fallow field will quickly become
populated with grasses and small shrubs. The shrubs will be replaced by small trees
in time. Over many years, the types of trees that grow in an area that has been
undisturbed for at least 50 to 100 years is characteristic of biome for the area. For
example, in the southeastern United States, the climax forest vegetation is an oak,
hickory, and chestnut forest. In higher elevations of the western Rocky Mountains,
the climax vegetation is a coniferous forest. Biomes are vegetation belts produced by
the temperature and rainfall patterns common to the area. The age of the forest
would determine which vegetation in the successional patterns for your biome
would be found in the forest area. Available water is an important consideration.
Some tree species have high water requirements and will only grow in saturated
soils, such as bald cypress and Tupelo. Other trees, like willows and water oaks,
grow in forest sites with large amounts of water, such as locations on the banks of
rivers, streams, and lakes.
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