Oldfield habitats originate from cultivated land and pastures and are associated with the farming industry in the past. Oldfields are fields that have been neglected and abandoned. This abandonment results in the beginnings of a successional sequence that soon leads to the re-establishment of a forest.

The field habitat is abundant throughout the province, generally wherever settlement has taken place. Over two million acres are known to have been cleared throughout Nova Scotia by about the year 1900. Less that half a million acres of cleared land are actively worked by farmers today.

This Document Includes:

Formation
Physical Aspects
Ecosystem
Successional Sequence
Plants
Animals
Special Features
Distribution in Nova Scotia

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Additional Keywords:
Fallow fields, Sheep-sorrel, Spurry, Broad-leaved Plantain, Narrow-leaved Goldenrod, Yarrow, dandelion, Canada Thistle, Wire Grass, Kentucky Bluegrass, Polytrichum, Wild Strawberry, Creeping White Clover, Everlasting, Common Juniper, raspberry, blueberry, Pussy-willow, Downy Alder, Meadowsweet, White Spruce, White Pine, Larch, Bent grass, Timothy, Red Fescue, toads, Leopard Frog, Pickerel Frog, Eastern Smooth Green Snake, Northern Red-belly Snake, Maritime Garter Snake, Bobolink, Common Snipe, American Woodcock, Northern Harrier, shrews, Meadow Voles, Meadow jumping Mice, warbler, flycatcher, sparrow, Ruffed Grouse, Ring-necked Pheasant, Snowshoe Hare, Deer mice, hawks, owls, bear, deer, ragwort, introductions, Cinnabar Moth

Associated Topics:

T4 Colonization
T9 Soils
T10.2 Successional Trends in Vegetation
T10.4 Plant Communities in Nova Scotia
T10.5 Seed-bearing Plants
T10.6 Trees
T12.1 Colonization by People
T12.10 Plants and Resources

Associated Habitats:

H6.2 Softwood Forest