Ecological succession

Ecological succession is the gradual change in an ecological community’s species composition and structure over time, often following disturbance or the formation of new habitat.

Facilitation model: A model in which early colonists modify conditions in ways that help later species establish. It explains how pioneer species can prepare habitat for later arrivals.
Primary succession: Community development on newly exposed surfaces lacking developed soil and biological legacies. It describes succession beginning where organisms and soil are initially scarce.
Pioneer species: Species that colonize newly available or disturbed habitats early in community development. Their establishment often marks the start of succession.
Classical succession theory: A historical view that communities develop through orderly stages toward a stable climax community. It represents the influential but overly universal version of succession.
Ecological restoration: The practice of assisting the recovery of degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems. Restoration projects often guide or accelerate successional change.
Tolerance model: A succession model in which later species establish because they tolerate conditions that exclude other species. It shows how succession can proceed without early species actively helping newcomers.
Secondary succession: Community recovery after disturbance where soil or other biological legacies remain. It captures succession after disturbances that leave parts of the former ecosystem intact.
Ecological niche: The environmental conditions and resources that influence a species’ survival and ecological effects. Changing conditions during succession alter which niches species can occupy.
Clementsian succession: Frederic Clements’s view of plant communities as integrated units developing toward a predictable climax. Its organism-like, directional account contrasts with more contingent succession models.
Restoration ecology: The science of repairing ecological systems and understanding their recovery. It applies succession concepts to the design and evaluation of ecosystem recovery.

Linked from 66 pages