﻿Nichols: 
  The 
  vegetation 
  of 
  Connecticut 
  113 
  

  

  'andifolia) 
  

  

  wood 
  

  

  (Q 
  

  

  (Castanea 
  dentata) 
  are 
  common; 
  and 
  the 
  undergrowth 
  includes 
  

   witch 
  hazel 
  {Hamamelis 
  virginiana) 
  and 
  niountain 
  laurel 
  {Kalmia 
  

   latifolia), 
  elsewhere 
  absent. 
  

  

  D. 
  Successional 
  relations 
  along 
  eroding 
  coasts 
  

  

  Successional 
  changes 
  in 
  the 
  character 
  of 
  plant 
  associations 
  

   along 
  the 
  seacoast 
  result 
  primarily 
  from 
  changes 
  in 
  physiography, 
  

   and 
  where 
  the 
  physiography 
  is 
  essentially 
  stable 
  for 
  long 
  periods 
  

   of 
  time 
  the 
  vegetation 
  likewise, 
  except 
  for 
  seasonal 
  variations, 
  

   may 
  remain 
  practically 
  unchanged. 
  Thus, 
  along 
  an 
  eroding 
  

   rocky 
  coast, 
  the 
  arrangement 
  of 
  the 
  seaweed 
  associations 
  into 
  

   definite 
  zones 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  tide 
  levels 
  has 
  no 
  successional 
  signi- 
  

   ficance: 
  this 
  arrangement, 
  of 
  itself, 
  is 
  scarcely 
  less 
  permanent 
  than 
  

   are 
  the 
  tides. 
  In 
  the 
  upper 
  supralittoral 
  along 
  the 
  coast, 
  as 
  on 
  

   rocky 
  uplands 
  elsewhere, 
  there 
  Is 
  an 
  undoubted 
  tendency 
  for 
  the 
  

   vegetation 
  to 
  become 
  more 
  mesophy 
  tic, 
  but 
  the 
  extent 
  to 
  which 
  any 
  

   such 
  changes 
  can 
  actually 
  take 
  place 
  is 
  pretty 
  definitely 
  limited 
  by 
  

  

  edaphic 
  factors. 
  

  

  Along 
  eroding 
  coasts 
  in 
  glacial 
  drift, 
  however, 
  the 
  conditions 
  

   are 
  quite 
  different 
  from 
  those 
  along 
  rocky 
  coasts. 
  Here, 
  owing 
  to 
  

   the 
  unstable 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  substrata 
  acted 
  on 
  by 
  the 
  waves, 
  changes 
  

   in 
  topography 
  may 
  be 
  brought 
  about 
  with 
  comparative 
  rapidity. 
  

   The 
  catastrophic 
  influence 
  of 
  such 
  changes 
  on 
  the 
  preexisting 
  

   vegetation, 
  elsewhere 
  described 
  (p. 
  no), 
  may 
  be 
  looked 
  upon 
  as 
  

   in 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  a 
  retrogressive 
  succession. 
  Once 
  established, 
  the 
  

   pioneer 
  vegetation 
  of 
  an 
  eroding 
  bluff 
  may 
  maintain 
  virtually 
  the 
  

   same 
  aspect 
  year 
  after 
  year, 
  or 
  just 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  the 
  bluff 
  continues 
  

   to 
  be 
  acted 
  on, 
  at 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  frequent 
  and 
  regular 
  intervals, 
  by 
  

   the 
  agencies 
  of 
  degradation. 
  But 
  should 
  erosion 
  cease, 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  

   accumulation 
  of 
  boulders 
  along 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  bluff 
  or 
  to 
  the 
  for- 
  

   mation 
  of 
  some 
  other 
  protective 
  barrier, 
  then 
  the 
  universal 
  tendency 
  

   of 
  vegetation 
  everywhere 
  to 
  approach 
  the 
  mesophytic 
  condition 
  

   becomes 
  at 
  once 
  apparent. 
  A 
  bluff, 
  formerly 
  populated 
  by 
  a 
  

   scattered 
  assemblage 
  of 
  weeds 
  and 
  other 
  herbaceous 
  xerophytes, 
  

   may 
  thus 
  become 
  covered 
  with 
  a 
  grassy 
  turf 
  or 
  with 
  a 
  dense 
  

   thicket 
  of 
  bayberry, 
  sumacs, 
  poison 
  ivy 
  and 
  the 
  like. 
  In 
  many 
  

  

  