If left alone by man, a meadow will:

If left alone by man, a meadow will:

• A. Remain a meadow
• B. Become a forest
• C. Die
• D. Become a wetland

Answer: (B)

Ecological succession is the idea that plant communities change over time when disturbances lessen or cease. In a meadow, open, sun-loving grasses and forbs dominate because the area has been kept open by regular human activity like mowing, grazing, or fire. When that disturbance stops, seeds and small trees from surrounding areas can establish, and the growing canopy eventually shades out many of the grasses and forbs. As woody plants—shrubs and young trees—start to grow, they alter the environment: more shade, different soil moisture, and litter buildup. This shift favors woody species over the grasses, so the community gradually changes from open meadow to woodland. Over decades, the area develops a forest structure with a closed canopy and a different mix of species than the original meadow. So, left alone by people, a meadow tends to become a forest rather than remaining as a meadow, dying out as an open habitat only if other factors (like flooding or persistent drought) shift conditions, which is not the typical outcome described here.

Ecological succession is the idea that plant communities change over time when disturbances lessen or cease. In a meadow, open, sun-loving grasses and forbs dominate because the area has been kept open by regular human activity like mowing, grazing, or fire. When that disturbance stops, seeds and small trees from surrounding areas can establish, and the growing canopy eventually shades out many of the grasses and forbs.

As woody plants—shrubs and young trees—start to grow, they alter the environment: more shade, different soil moisture, and litter buildup. This shift favors woody species over the grasses, so the community gradually changes from open meadow to woodland. Over decades, the area develops a forest structure with a closed canopy and a different mix of species than the original meadow.

So, left alone by people, a meadow tends to become a forest rather than remaining as a meadow, dying out as an open habitat only if other factors (like flooding or persistent drought) shift conditions, which is not the typical outcome described here.