72 The RufiFed Grouse 



to subclimax or climax ^ species while the pioneers are maturing and 

 dying out or are being crowded out. Sometimes a mixture of moder- 

 ately tolerant shrubs, like the dogwoods, viburnums, thornapples, 

 alders, and others takes over as intennediate between the earliest 

 woody plants and the later tree saplings. This stage is particularly 

 useful to grouse, especially if some conifers too are in the mixture. 

 Another alternative that occurs commonly in some portions of the 

 Northeast is a dense stand of pine. This usually follows the weed 

 stage, or sometimes tlie early shrubs. 



As the long-lived tree species gain height and crown, the shrubs 

 and pioneer trees are replaced to form a subclimax pole-size wood- 

 land. This is somewhere between twenty and fort)^ years, or even 

 more, along the path of change since the field was abandoned by 

 man. This type is again quite different from the overgrown land as 

 grouse cover. It may be any one of the three woodland types, hard- 

 woods, mixed woods, or coniferous woods. The rate of change in 

 type now slows down greatly. A new stage, except for age class 

 change, may not develop for many decades. Oft times there is a 

 gradual change in species composition, such as the replacement of 

 hard pines with hardwoods, or the introduction of hemlock into a 

 stand. Thus the woodland reaches its climax type. Changes then are 

 brought about by the dying of large trees and the ensuing plant 

 succession from the briar stage in the small openings formed. 



Actually this unhampered trend of plant laws seldom runs a full 

 course. Catastrophes occur that set back the successive stages and 

 prevent the climax being reached. Fire, either natural or man-made, 

 may sweep the woodland and bring the land cover back to an herb- 

 briar stage somewhat different from that described above, one domi- 

 nated by plants that germinate well following a burn. More com- 

 monly, man steps in with ax and saw, and reduces the woodland 

 to a slashing or to a spotty, small-clearing pattern if he pursues 

 selective cutting. In either case, the succession is set back many 

 decades, often a century or more. If he follows clear cutting with 

 stump pulling and ploughing, or if he grazes the cutover area with 

 livestock, the stage is placed still farther back. Then too, grazing, 

 even without lumbering, will materially alter the character of the 



''■ Climax plant associations are those that complete the stages of plant succession 

 for an area and, unless disturbed, maintain themselves indefinitely. Subclimax species 

 are those in the stage preceding the climax. 



