Water

The topography difference from one end of the field to another creates microenvironments. It would be expected that water table would be deeper in the more upland region of the old field, and much closer to the surface as it gets closer to Sandy Stream. Additionally, because of the culvert system in place at Unity College, the old field receives a substantial amount of runoff. The water runoff is mostly absorbed into the soil with limited erosion because of the thick vegetation layer. This high water availability could lead to a faster level of succession in the areas of lower elevation. It would be expected that in the upland areas where there are high levels of light and evapotranspiration that there might be a greater level of plant species with taproots to access the water. But, there isn’t a highly varying degree in which plants have responded to the differences in water availability. There is likely not a significant enough difference in availability for there to be a need for specialization.