The forest in Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada is generally considered to have second and third growth characteristics. This photo shows regeneration, a tree growing out of the stump of another tree that was felled in 1963 by Typhoon Freda.

Secondary, or second-growth, forest is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a major disturbance such as fire, insect infestation, timber harvest or wind throw, until 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 development of old growth characteristics may take anywhere from a century to several millennia. Hardwood forests of the eastern United States, 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 natural phenomena that produce the same effect are often included in the definition. Secondary forests tend to have trees closer spaced than primary forests and contain more undergrowth. Secondary Forests typically have less biodiversity than old growth forests. Usually, secondary forests have only one canopy layer, whereas old growth forests have several. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2304x3072, 4560 KB) Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada, 2004. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2304x3072, 4560 KB) Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada, 2004. ... Location of Stanley Park within Vancouver. ... Motto: By Sea, Land, and Air We Prosper Location of Vancouver within the Greater Vancouver Regional District in British Columbia, Canada Coordinates: , Country  Canada Province  British Columbia Region Lower Mainland Regional District Greater Vancouver Incorporated 1886 Government  - Mayor Sam Sullivan (NPA)  - City Council List of Councilors Suzanne Anton (NPA) Peter... The 1963 Pacific typhoon season has no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1963, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between June and December. ... A forest is an area with a high density of trees (or, historically, a wooded area set aside for hunting). ... Limber Pine woodland, Toiyabe Range, central Nevada Biologically, a woodland is a treed area differentiated from a forest. ... A forest fire Fire is a rapid oxidation process that creates light, heat, smoke, and releases energy in varying intensities. ... Orders Subclass Apterygota Archaeognatha (bristletails) Thysanura (silverfish) Monura - extinct Subclass Pterygota Infraclass Paleoptera (may be paraphyletic) Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Palaeodictyoptera - extinct Megasecoptera - extinct Archodonata - extinct Diaphanopterodea - extinct Protodonata - extinct Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass Neoptera Superorder Exopterygota Caloneurodea - extinct Titanoptera - extinct Protorthoptera - extinct Grylloblattodea (ice-crawlers) Mantophasmatodea (gladiators) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Embioptera... This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ... Logging is the process in which trees are cut down usually as part of a timber harvest. ... Old growth forest, also called primary forest, ancient forest, virgin forest, primeval forest or ancient woodland (in the UK), is an area of forest that has attained great age and exhibits unique biological features. ... Primeval forest is a term often used interchangeably with old growth forest to refer to substantial wooded areas which have been untouched by the effect of humans. ... A forest is an area with a high density of trees (or, historically, a wooded area set aside for hunting). ... ... The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth. ... Logging is the process in which trees are cut down usually as part of a timber harvest. ... Old growth forest, sometimes called late seral forest, ancient forest, virgin forest, primary forest or ancient woodland is an area of forest that has attained great age and exhibits unique biological features. ... Undergrowth usually refers to the vegetation in a forest, which can obstruct passage through the forest. ... Rainforests are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth Biodiversity is the variation of taxonomic life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or for the entire Earth. ... The canopy is the habitat found at the uppermost level of a forest, especially rainforest. ...

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. Secondary forests may also arise from forest that has been harvested heavily or over a long period of time, forest that is naturally regenerating from fire and from abandoned pastures or areas of agriculture. It takes a secondary forest typically forty to 100 years to begin to resemble the original old-growth forest; however, in some cases a secondary forest will not succeed, due to erosion or soil nutrient loss in certain tropical forests. Assarting in Finland in 1892 Slash and burn (a specific practice that may be part of shifting cultivation or swidden-fallow agriculture) is an agricultural procedure widely used in forested areas. ... Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned. ... Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. For erosion as an operation of Mathematical morphology, see Erosion (morphology) Erosion is displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock and other particles) by the agents of ocean currents, wind, water, or ice by downward or down-slope movement... Sheep pasture with macroscale erosion, Australia Soil Conservation is a set of management strategies for prevention of soil being eroded from the earth’s surface or becoming chemically altered by overuse, salinization, acidification, or other chemical soil contamination. ... Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, also known as tropical rain forests, are a tropical and subtropical biome. ...

Secondary forests re-establish by the process of succession. Openings created in the forest canopy allow sunlight to reach the forest floor. An area that has been cleared will first be colonized by pioneer species. Even though some species loss may occur with primary forest removal, a secondary forest can protect the watershed from further erosion and provides habitat. 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. The canopy is the habitat found at the uppermost level of a forest, especially rainforest. ... An edge effect is the effect of the juxtaposition of contrasting environments on an ecosystem. ... Habitat fragmentation is a process of environmental change important in evolution and conservation biology. ...

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

Rainforests

In the case of tropical rainforests, where soil nutrient levels are characteristically low, the soil quality may be significantly diminished from its state during primary forest presence. The Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, Australia. ... Link title {{portal|Food} A nutrient is either a chemical element or compound used in an organisms metabolism or physiology. ... Old growth forest, sometimes called late seral forest, ancient forest, virgin forest, primary forest or ancient woodland is an area of forest that has attained great age and exhibits unique biological features. ...

Sources

CIFOR Secondary Forest

FAO Forestry

World Resource Institute

External links

M. van Breugel, 2007, Dynamics of secondary forests. PhD Thesis Wageningen University. ISBN 978-90-8504-693-6

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