9726992 Pickett & Morin Ecological succession has long been a central focus of plant community ecology. Despite the interest and numerous studies, most of our understanding of the process is based on examination of different aged communities at the same point in time. Such an approach can not always factor out site to site variables and thus following the same site over time has advantages. This project will continue a long-term study of plant succession that began 40 years ago, longer than any other published study. It takes advantage of permanent plots that were delineated in 10 oldfields in the northeastern U.S. in 1958 and have been periodically monitored since that time. This long-term study records the course of ecological succession following abandonment of fields used for different crops and following abandonment in different years and in different seasons. The present funded research will continue field monitoring, maintenance of field plots, data entry and data analysis.
