Plant succession

Plant succession is directional change in plant species composition and community structure over time, often following disturbance or the arrival of plants on newly exposed ground.

Facilitation (ecology): An ecological interaction in which one organism modifies conditions in ways that benefit another. Early plants can improve soil or shelter, making later species more likely to establish.
Plant community: A group of plant populations living and interacting in the same place. Succession describes directional change in the composition and structure of these communities.
Glacier Bay succession: The sequence of vegetation changes on land exposed by the retreat of glaciers in Glacier Bay, Alaska. This classic primary-succession case tracks plant colonization across surfaces exposed at different times.
Clementsian succession: A classical view that plant communities develop in an orderly sequence toward a climatic climax. Its directional, integrated sequence contrasts with more contingent accounts of community change.
Ecological restoration: The process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. Restoration projects use successional processes to guide or accelerate vegetation recovery.
Inhibition (ecology): An ecological interaction in which established organisms impede the establishment or growth of others. Some early colonists hold space and resources until they die or are disturbed.
Ecological community: Populations of different species that live and interact in the same area. Plant succession is one part of broader change in ecological communities.
Mount St. Helens succession: Ecological recovery and community development following the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. The eruption created contrasting disturbance legacies that shaped subsequent plant recovery.
Gleasonian individualistic concept: The view that species respond individually to environmental conditions rather than forming tightly integrated communities. It challenges the idea that succession follows a single community-wide developmental program.
Forest regeneration: The renewal of a forest through the establishment of new trees, naturally or through planting. Tree establishment and replacement are central outcomes of forest succession.

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