With reference to one plagioclimax that you have studied, assess the impact of human activity on plant succession. (10 marks)
Plant succession is the process by which one plant community replaces another over time. Human activity can have an impact on the succession of plants in a number of ways these are known as arresting factors. A plagioclimax community is a habitat in which the impact of humans has subsequently meant that the ecosystem has been prevented from developing further. The plagioclimax with which I will give reference in this essay is heather moorland. It must be noted that much of the present vegetation in the UK is a plagioclimax as a result of clearance.
Heather moorland provides a choice example of a plagioclimax in the UK. The areas where heather moorland is most prominent are the North York Moors, the Pennines and Eastern Scotland. Much of the land where Heather moorland now exists was once covered by deciduous woodland, the UK’s climatic climax, yet humans have had a critical impact on the way in which heather moorland has manifested itself in these areas. One must acknowledge that heather had featured in these areas prior to the suspension of succession. Humans removed deciduous woodland in these areas to make way for farmland as a result of the need to increase food production. By chopping down vast swathes of deciduous woodland, the soil in these areas began to deteriorate without the much needed nutrients associated with the deciduous woodland biome. Heather and other hardier plants such as Bracken, Grasses and Scrub Woodland began to dominate upland areas which had been impacted by humans felling the deciduous woodland in the area. With these upland areas being used for sheep grazing and other forms of farming, young Oak and Ash trees were unable to establish themselves in the poor soil and were otherwise eaten by farm animals, therefore