We studied gradients in field layer vegetation across ecotone-type borderlines between 12 ancient woodlands and adjacent secondary deciduous woodlands on former amble land. The aim of the study was to determine how distance from the borderline influences species distributions as compared with soil factors and degree of canopy closure. Correspondence Analysis showed that distance from the borderline is closely related to the first ordination axis at all study sites. Canonical Correspondence Analysis with variation partitioning revealed that distance from the borderline was the single most important factor in explaining vegetation variation. In general, the results suggest the following order of decreasing importance: Distance from the borderline > Soil reaction > Soil nitrogen > Soil moisture > Canopy cover. However, the sum of soil variables, as estimated by weighted averages of Ellenberg indicator values for moisture, reaction and nitrogen, accounted for as much as ca. 50-70% of the total variation explained by environmental variables. Important gradients in field layer vegetation are due to a decrease in typical woodland species and an increase in other species with increasing distance from the ancient woodland. The results suggest dispersal limitation of woodland species as an important determinant of secondary forest succession. However, the importance of distance to species distributions decreases with increasing stand age as most woodland species gradually colonize the recent woodlands. After 70 yr, ca. 50 % of the woodland species present at a site showed complete colonization within 50 m from the ancient woodland border.