Module 8 Lesson 8 - 1

Get Focused

What happens when a small grassy meadow surrounded by forest disappears due to spring prairie fires? In central Alberta, soon wild roses and thistles appear along with a new crop of wild grasses. A few years later, wild rose and thistle begin to be replaced by wild raspberry bushes, Saskatoon bushes, hazelnut bushes, high-bush cranberry, and dogwood shrubs. Several years later, chokecherry and pincherry trees nestle among a forest of mature aspen trees. Eventually, a forest of mature aspen trees remains.

In the same way that individuals go through life cycles from young to old, communities age as well, with certain species succeeding another.

At the end of this lesson you should be able to answer this focusing question:

• How do communities and their populations change or remain stable over time?