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Forest succession is the process by which species recover and regenerate after a disturbance. The type of disturbance, the climate and weather conditions, the presence of colonizing species, and the interactions among species all influence the path that succession will take. Species diversity and composition fluctuate throughout succession.
Succession after disturbance: a boreal forest one year (left) and two years (right) after a wildfire. Ecological succession is the process of change in the species that make up an ecological community over time. The process of succession occurs either after the initial colonization of a newly created habitat, or after a disturbance ...
Beech (center) and sugar maple (bottom left) dominate the forest due to their towering height and tolerance of shade. In scientific ecology , climax community or climatic climax community is a historic term for a community of plants , animals , and fungi which, through the process of ecological succession in the development of vegetation in an ...
Joseph Connell and Ralph Slatyer further developed the understanding of successional mechanisms in their 1977 paper and proposed that there were 3 main modes of successional development. These sequences could be understood in the context of the specific life-history theories of the individual species within an ecological community.
An old-growth forest[a] (also referred to as primary forest) is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. [1] The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations defines primary forests as naturally regenerated forests of native tree ...
Climax species, also called late seral, late-successional, K-selected or equilibrium species, are plant species that can germinate and grow with limited resources; e.g., they need heat exposure or low water availability. [1] They are the species within forest succession that are more adapted to stable and predictable environments, and will ...
Forest with canopy, shrub and herb layers of vegetation. The following layers are generally distinguished: forest floor (root and moss layers), herb, shrub, understory and canopy layers. These vegetation layers are primarily determined by the height of their individual plants, the different elements may however have a range of heights.
Gap dynamics. Treefall gaps in the Amazon allow sunlight to reach the forest floor. Gap dynamics refers to the pattern of plant growth that occurs following the creation of a forest gap, a local area of natural disturbance that results in an opening in the canopy of a forest. Gap dynamics are a typical characteristic of both temperate and ...