This info sheet explains how a forest changes as it matures from emerging forest to old growth. Download info sheet here (330 KB):
Or, flip through the images below to see five stages of forest succession!
Alternate successional pathways
This 5-part slide show takes several repetitions to fully digest. The blocks represent an acre, about 200 feet on a side. Since spruces can reach 200 feet on stream deposits, an alluvial forest acre could be visualized as a cube 200 feet on a side. As you watch the trees rise and fall (to flooding and logging), notice that the upper, streamside forest never enters the shady, depauperate understory stage so dreaded by wildlife ecologists.
