| Abstract: | Abstract. Species number, turnover and early successional patterns were examined over the first five years of old-field succession in a former bottomland hardwood forest. Number of species, measured by walk-through surveys, increased up to Year 3, but decreased in Years 4 and 5. Species turnover in 20 quadrats indicated that species’invasions remained high throughout the study, while losses of species were initially high but declined. Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) on species cover in each year showed the existence of a compositional gradient that could be significantly related to relative elevation, an indirect measure of hydrology, in Years 2, 3, 4, and 5. DCA of the pooled five-year species cover data showed greater compositional changes in lower elevation quadrats, and those higher elevation quadrats dominated by the woody vine, Campsis radicans, remained similar over time. |
