0807/2018, Day02, Park Muskau, itinerary 02, Group 03, Itinerary Exploration, materials, mining area, succession exploration, historical layers

For the second day, we explored the remaining part of our itinerary and rode to the vine yard. We have particular interest in the mining area and its relationship with the surrounding landscape. By exploring around the mining area, I am deeply impressed by the topography changing from hills to valleys. The section of mining area illustrates the sequence of slope and path, and slope and track again, which indicate the historical layers of mining work. This area is covered with oak and beech trees. What is most interesting to me is discovering the succession stage of this area. Under the oak and beech trees, there are black locust sapling growing around this area. Also, Professor Beth told us that the black locust is not only the pioneer tree species, but also can collect nitrogen to enrich the soil for our growing species in this area. I also notice that there are beech and maple saplings growing in this area. The species of sapling layer are mostly intermediate species which is shade-tolerant for germinating and sapling stage, then turns to be shade-intolerant for growing into the canopy layer. We enjoyed the whole day exploring the detailed scale of this area.