Station 15: Forest Follows Agriculture
You are looking down a stone wall that separates an old plowed field on your right and an old pasture on your left. Agriculture ceased at different times on each, as outlined below, and the stands are in different stages of succession.
Before Reading the outline below can you determine which side of the wall we left to natural succession and which went through a plantation phase?
The columns on the table below correspond with the picture above.
| Old Pasture | Year | Old Cropland |
|---|---|---|
| Pre settlement forest cleared and pastured, but never plowed. Evidence: Irregular ground surface due to stones and blowdown mounds from pre-colonial forest. |
1765 | Presettlement forest cleared and plowed for crops. Evidence: Double stone walls fro depositing stones from field. Ground surface smooth by plowing |
| Pasturing stopped and white pine seeded in naturally. Evidence: White pine stumps close enough to form a solid stand. |
1865 | |
| White pine harvested at age 60 and harwood saplings growing underneath took over the stand. Evidence: Saw cut stumps showing about 60 rings and Harvard Forest Records. | 1925 | Plowing stopped and area planted to red pine and white spruce. Evidence: Harvard Forest records. |
| Mixed hardwood stand more than 60 years old is the second generation of trees after agriculture. This sequence of events is termed "old-field white pine succession." | 1990 | Plantation cleared at age 65 for poles and sawlogs. The hardwood saplings that were cut during the harvest have sprouted to form the next stage in forest succession |
| Continued growth of a mixed hardwood forest | 2002 | Succession continues. Gray and paper birch are growing fast and oaks are coming in. |
