The __________ that have regrown since the 1920s don't contain trees that are taller than the original trees.

• A. forests
• B. fields
• C. wetlands
• D. prairies

Answer: (A)

When forests regrow after disturbance, the new trees are younger and haven’t had the many decades needed to reach the same extreme heights as the original, older forest. Tree height tends to increase with age, up to the limits of the species and growing conditions, so regrown stands typically don’t produce trees taller than the tallest trees that existed before the disturbance. That’s why the term that fits here is forests—fields and prairies are grasslands, and wetlands, while they may have trees, aren’t described by regrowth of a forest in this sense.