Natural Processes
Natural processes shape the land, create soil and topsoil, influence the water supply, and help determine the plants and animals that live in each natural community. Some natural processes act on large scales and affect more than one natural community at a time.
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In This Community
Important natural processes in the Red-cedar Limestone Glade include these:
- processes that create dry soils (Ecobit: Soil Processes—Creating a Place to Take Root)
- bedrock near the surface, leading to shallow rooting and wind-thrown trees
- steep-slope processes (erosion, creep), leading to shallow soils
- exposure to sun, wind, and storms
In the Broader Landscape
An ecological system is a group of several natural communities that share some features of physical setting and many of the same natural processes, plants, and animals.
The Red-cedar Limestone Glade is the only natural community in the Alkaline Glades and Woodlands Ecological System in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Any other natural communities in this ecological system are beyond the borders of the park.