BRAINCAKEManaging Succession in Conservation
Left alone, most land habitats in the UK would slowly undergo succession until they became a climax community, usually woodland. Many valuable habitats, such as heathland, moorland, chalk grassland and reed beds, are early or middle stages of succession. Conservation of these habitats therefore often means managing succession: stopping it, or setting it back, so the habitat and the species that depend on it remain.
When human activity stops succession from reaching the climax community, the stable community that results is called a plagioclimax. Common management methods include:
• Grazing by animals such as sheep or cattle, which eat the growing points of shrubs and tree seedlings, so woody plants cannot become established.
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Key terms in this lesson
- coppicing
- A woodland management technique in which trees are cut back to ground level to stimulate new shoot growth, letting light reach the woodland floor.
More in Populations in Ecosystems
- Systematic Sampling along Transects
- Mark-Release-Recapture
- Assumptions of Mark-Release-Recapture
- Succession
- Primary Succession
- Secondary Succession
- Climax Communities
- Conservation and Succession
All 20 lessons in Populations in Ecosystems · All AQA A-level Biology topics