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Re: Plant Succession

Alan:  

The standard observation is that mowing down the short-lived 
pioneer species in the first season or two after planting will speed 
up succession to more permanent prairie vegetation. In any case, as 
the more long-lived perennial prairie species take hold, the early 
successional species which require disturbed soil and little 
competition have fewer and fewer opportunities to grow. Even in 
remants small numbers of these pioneer species can be found in sites 
of local disturbance such as along animal trails and where soil has 
been turned up by burrowers. Unchecked, the fleabanes will shade the 
developing prairie, slow its progress somewhat, and shed oodles of 
seeds, but most of these latter are doomed to slow death in the seed 
bank unless the soil is significantly disturbed once again in the 
future.

James C. Trager

> From:          Alan_Rider@ILLINOVA.COM
> To:            prairie@mallorn.com
> Date:          Thu, 10 Jun 1999 09:35:28 -0500
> Subject:       Plant Succession
> Reply-to:      prairie@mallorn.com

> 
> 
> As a newcomer to Prairie Restoration I do not understand/believe how succession,
> over time, will eliminate certain species and others will 'take over'.
> For example I have an area I planted 2 years ago in Forbs with no grasses.  Now
> I have a field of Fleabane Daises mixed with some Black eyed Susans and
> (Embedded image moved to file: pic03596.pcx)that are flowering.  The Daises have
> grown taller than all the other plants.  I fear they will re-seed the area and I
> will have a Fleabane Daisy 'Prairie'.  Other species are present, most are a
> couple of inches tall , but get little direct sun.  I 'think' I want to
> eliminate the F Daisies.
> Could I get some comments on how succession works, time frames involved etc etc?
> Also if you are wanting to introduce species into an area being restored- seeded
> several years ago- are there any ways better than others to do this....
> Many thanks.....
> 
> 
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