Animal Sciences Commons^™

Vegetation Development In Old Fields At The Uwm Field Station, Beth A. Krause, Diane De Steven

Field Station Bulletins

We studied abandoned fields at the UW-Milwaukee Field Station in 1990 to determine how previous cropping history and management practices have influenced present vegetation composition. Eleven fields were sampled for herbaceous species presence and coverage, and species compositions were analyzed by Detrended Correspondence Analysis ordination. Nearly all the fields were abandoned in the mid-1960's. Standing crop biomass of the herbaceous vegetation peaked in late July. Fields with very recent management (last 5 years) in the form of mowing or burning differed in species composition from fields without recent management and fields that have been unmanaged since abandonment. Species such as …