Secondary succession in forest gaps

This is an interactive panorama represented as a QuickTime VR movie. Click and drag the mouse to pan and tilt the view. Depress the shift and control keys to zoom in or zoom out.

These panoramas show intermediate sized windthrows in either the Allegheny National Forest (360° panorama above) or Kane Experimental Forest (360° panorama QTVR), Pennsylvania. Windthrow or blowdown events are common in forests and dramatically alter biotic and abiotic environments. These pictures were taken approximately five years post-disturbance. Prior to this disturbance, the forest would have been relatively closed with drastically less light reaching the understory (see deciduous forest). This structural change dramatically alters the light environment and allows trees/plants that are shade intolerant to proliferate as succession progresses. However, changes in the forest structure also affect temperature and soil moisture. These changes in the abiotic environment and the matrix of debris likely affect disease, herbivory, plant-plant competition, and seed dispersal. 

This is also an interactive panorama represented as a QuickTime VR movie. Click and drag the mouse to pan and tilt the view. Depress the shift and control keys to zoom in or zoom out.