second growth forest

Secondary forest

A second growth forest is a forest that has regenerated after severe disruptions, such as a clear cut or fire, and a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. It is distinguished from an old growth or primeval forests, which have not undergone such disruptions, as well as third growth forests that result from severe disruptions in second growth forests. Depending on the forest, the regeneration may take anywhere from a century to several millennia. Hardwood forests of the eastern US, for example, can develop old growth characteristics in one or two generations of trees, or 150-500 years. Often the disruption is the result of human activity, such as logging, but many people include natural phenomenon that produces the same effect in the definition.

Secondary forestation is common in areas where forests have been lost by the slash-and-burn method, a component of some shifting cultivation systems of agriculture.

however, in some cases a secondary forest will not succeed, due to erosion or soil nutrient loss in certain tropical forests.

Secondary forests may also buffer edge effects around mature forest fragments and increase connectivity between them. They may also be a source of wood and other forest products

Today most of the forest of the US, the eastern part of North America and Europe consist of secondary forest.

The forest in Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada is generally considered to have second and third growth characteristics.

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