Succession -
Rock to woodland
We are keenly watching to see how the Minet Country Park develops.
These photos of a wall in Norwood Green show how bare rock is transformed naturally, ultimately to woodland.
Lichens gain a root-hold in tiny crevices in the rock.
Lichen holds water, which freezes & cracks the rock, beginning to form a soil of powdered rock & organic matter.
Mosses take a hold in the lichen, & as they live & decay, they build up the soil structure.
The mosses thicken & a soil layer is established which is receptive to seeds.
Annual plants seed & grow in the moss.
Thale cress, grasses, groundsel, etc grow & die, enriching the soil structure.
Perennials like ivy-leaved toadflax establish in the deeper crevices as the soil layer thickens.
As the soil builds up, the vegetation increases, and perennials become well established. Aubretia is a garden flower often grown on walls.
Ultimately shrubs & trees grow as the rock continues to break up, & the soil layer deepens.
The process takes decades.
Look & see how your garden wall, your patio, or the roof of your house, is accumulating lichen & moss, slowly becoming woodland!
Different climatic conditions affect succession, resulting in grassland, rain-forest, coniferous forest, etc.
If we know what we want the land to become, we can manage the land to prevent natural succession, or speed the process.