Cycling through Plant Succession

When I think about designing and managing a property for wild game one of my main considerations is doing so in a way that is efficient and gives me the best results for the least amount of time, money and effort. Having this mindset has helped me keep costs down with my habitat projects and has led me to finding some unique and inventive ways of getting things done.  One idea I have been thinking about for a while is the concept of cycling through succession.

When I say cycling through succession what I mean is managing a plant community in a way that mimics nature and the natural momentum of plant succession in an ecosystem. Succession when talking about ecosystems is basically just how one plant community naturally transitions into a different plant community. For example, after a disturbance such as a forest fire, the forest could be completely burned and it would be replaced by herbaceous forbs and grasses, but over time this plant community will, under normal circumstances and without further disturbance, succeed back into a forest dominated by woody species and the herbaceous plants will eventually die out because they are outcompeted by the trees. 

If I were to mimic this natural cycle on my property I would look at the current existing plant community and figure out what the next stage of succession would naturally be, and then design my plan for that area to resemble that next successional stage to take advantage of the natural successional momentum of nature. An example of this would be looking at an overgrown pasture dominated by perennial grasses and forbs with some scattered shrubs and small trees and then determining that the next stage of succession will be a thicket made up of woody shrubs and trees. So for this area the logical strategy would be to focus mainly on planting shrubs and small trees, especially species that do well competing against grass and other meadow vegetation. So some species I might choose are raspberries, blackberries, roses, plums, apples, hawthorns etc. because all of these species would naturally establish themselves in meadow type environments. These shrubs and trees would be the best choices because they are adapted to compete in this environment and would do better than trying to convert a perennial meadow backwards in succession for example to a plant community dominated by annual grasses and forbs. If I were to decide to transition it back to an annual forb dominated community then it would be necessary for me to create a disturbance such as through tillage or a controlled burn in order to create the conditions that could support those annuals. This would take a lot more time and effort than if I were to just plant some shrubs and small trees that were adapted to compete with the meadow vegetation.   

Another example of implementing this strategy would be to cut down a small area of closed canopy forest to establish a community of annual plants. While this would take more work, it would still be relatively easy. This is because the trees over time would have shaded out most herbaceous plants growing beneath them. Then once the canopy was removed you would be left with a mostly blank slate underneath the trees and if you were to immediately seed in your mix then you would be able to get your desired plants established before competing weeds could come in and establish themselves.  

Last year I saw this first hand when I helped a neighbor clear a large shooting lane for a tree stand for deer hunting.  It was in an area that was largely forested and we took out many trees and shrubs. Once we were done I realized that the ground was almost completely devoid of plants as well as somewhat broken up from our activity in the area.  I then got the idea to experiment with seeding it with a food plot mix of mainly clover to attract deer to the spot.  I seeded the area not long after we cleared it out and now almost a year later the shooting lane is dominated by the clover and other forbs that were in the mix and they are being heavily browsed by the deer.  There were some “weeds” that came up, mostly perennial grass, but these were relatively scattered compared to the thick mat of clover that exists across most of the plot. This area took almost no effort to establish the mix because once the canopy was removed we mostly had a blank slate of bare soil, which was perfect for establishing annuals and perennial plants. Another thing to note was that the soil was very rich and black because of all the decomposed plants and forest debris that had built up over the years. I think this indicates that cycling through succession like this would over time also help improve the soil quality.

This experiment taught me a valuable lesson in cycling through succession, because during that same time I had been trying to come up with a simple and affordable way to establish the same kinds of food plots on my own property that is mostly covered in grass. I learned that the best way might be to instead focus on establishing shrubs and trees into the grassy areas and then to find areas that were already mostly tree cover to establish my food plots after clearing out the trees. If I really wanted to establish an annual food plot into the grassy areas of my property my only real choices would be to create a disturbance such as through tillage, which I would prefer to avoid due to the cost and effort involved, or to instead establish trees and shrubs into the area and let them grow and shade out the grass over time and then eventually come back in and remove the canopy and establish my food plot into the bare soil.

I believe using nature as a template to manage a piece of ground really helps with keeping down costs and effort. And I believe that cycling through succession and using the natural momentum of nature is a great example of this. I think when you do this over time on a property then you can especially create a sustainable management system that could possibly even lead to a management strategy where there is almost no work because nature has taken over all the processes.

I’d like to paint a potential picture of what that could look like.  Let’s say you have all the right plants growing on your property because you were able to design an ecosystem that completely mimicked nature and you decided which species of plants filled in all the niches of that ecosystem.  You also have the right proportions of different plant communities, such as meadows, thickets and forests based on what wild game species you were focused on managing for and they have abundant food, cover and water in every season.  Once you have this paradise established a few years go by and natural succession leads to the proportion of forest on the property becoming too high compared to the other types of plant communities. Well you notice this and decide to cut down some trees to create an opening in the forest and then you walk away.  What grows back in the area first are a diversity of annuals and then quickly followed perennial herbaceous plants, but they are not just any plants. The plants that grow back after you open up the canopy are highly nutritious forage plants that are descendants from seed you spread many years earlier that are either germinating from the soil seed bank or are being spread by animals and wind from adjacent areas that are currently in earlier stages of succession.  Yeah you may have a few undesirable “weed” species growing, but these are few and far between because of your sound management using a diversity of plant species and types that fill all of the available niches in the plant community.  Because of this you do nothing, but observe and let nature continue to progress this area through succession. This spot continues to be dominated by highly productive and nutritious forage plants for many years until eventually it starts to transition into a thicket of woody shrubs and small trees. But once again these are not just any shrubs and trees, these are highly beneficial species such as fruit and nut producers as well as species that provide excellent woody browse for game animals. These highly beneficial species are growing because they are the descendants from the trees and shrubs you've planted in the past and have been spread mostly by animals that are bringing in seeds from the adjacent areas you are managing.  This area continues to produce lots of food as well as great cover for many animal species and for many years being composed almost entirely of highly beneficial species.  Then eventually, many years later the spot once again becomes a mature closed canopy forest and you, or possibly your children by this time, decide that it’s time to cut it down and begin the cycle of succession once again. 

While this is a pretty ideal scenario I don’t think it is too far off for what is possible and I think it illustrates pretty well what could be accomplished if you are able to create and implement a design for a fully functioning ecosystem made up of a diversity of plants that are not only highly beneficial to wild game, but also fill in all the ecological niches of the plant communities.