27 



go to beech-niaplc; or (2) if tlu- tire is not too severe as the as|)ens 

 start to develop, stump sprouting from the hiinu-d maples nips 

 the aspen stage in the hud and the area re\erts to heech-maple. 



B. Lumbering. Conditions are radiealU' different where the 

 areas have been lumbered. If the limil)ering has been complete, 

 the first year or so afterwards finds some aspen species etitering 

 the area and the beech-maple ground plants, seedlings and 

 shrubs dying out from exposure to the sun. Then the stum{)s 

 of Acer saccharum begin to sprout. These coppices soon become 

 very thick. As the shoots grow larger the>' shade out aspens, 

 and provide sufficient shade for beech-maple ground plants. 

 Then as they grow taller and more dense the shade increases 

 until very few ground plants and seedlings are found. As the 

 trees grow the\- crowd out the weaker species. This thinning 

 out process continues and more shade plants and beech and 

 other seedlings enter and it becomes a typical beech-maple 

 forest. 



C. Pasturing. Man>- of the areas have been or are being 

 pastured. Pasturing does not destroy the forest immediately, 

 of course, but changes the character of the undergrowth and 

 destroys a large percentage of young seedlings, so the future of 

 the forest is endangered. Maples however are somewhat dis- 

 tasteful and so are not readily eaten by cattle. Areas i. 2, 3, 4, 

 were all burned over about the same time and now Acer sacch-arum 

 has a frequency index of 39.9 in area i and 33.6 in area 2. 

 Neither of these have been pastured, and have a variety of 

 other trees. Areas 3 and 4 however have been pastured and 

 Acer saccharum has a frequency index of 90 in area 3 and 87.8 

 in area 4. The presence of certain species not natural in a 

 beech-maple forest ahvays indicates pasturing. Some of these 

 species are Poa pratensis, Poa compressa, Phleuni pratense, and 

 Trifolium repens. If an area which has been pastured is left 

 undisturbed for a few years, the normal ground plants return, 

 and seedlings of maple and beech again are found. 



D. Abandoned Cultivated Land. If any of the areas are cul- 

 tivated for a time after clearing, and are later abandoned, the 

 succession is quite long and involved. First is found a weed 

 stage, a meadow stage and then stages of native ground plants, 

 shrubs and trees to the climax beech-maple forest.* 



* Gates, Frank C. Plant Successions about Douglas Lake, Chclxjygan 

 County, Michigan. Bot. Gaz. 82: 170-182. 1926. 



