Testing the assumptions of chronosequences in succession

Many introductory ecology textbooks illustrate succession, at least in part, by using certain classic studies (e.g. sand dunes, ponds/bogs, glacial till, and old fields) that substituted space for time (chronosequence) in determining the sequences of the succession. Despite past criticisms of this method, there is continued, often uncritical, use of chronosequences in current research on topics besides succession, including temporal changes in biodiversity, productivity, nutrient cycling, etc. To show the problem with chronosequence-based studies in general, we review evidence from studies that used non-chronosequence methods (such as long-term study of permanent plots, palynology, and stand reconstruction) to test the space-for-time substitution in four classic succession studies. In several cases, the tests have used the same locations and, in one case, the same plots as those in the original studies. We show that empirical evidence invalidates the chronosequence-based sequences inferred in these classic studies.     

植物群落的演替理论

演替是植被动态的中心问题.与演替有关的理论有接力植物区系学说、初始植物区系学说、促进忍耐和抑制学说、生活史对策演替学说、资源比率学说、Odum-Margelef生态系统发展理论、McMahon系统概念模型、变化镶嵌体稳态学说、演替的尺度等级系统观点. 文章论述了演替的分类、演替的进程、演替机制、顶极群落与非平衡态、植物群落的线性与线性系统、演替的细胞学和遗传学特征、演替与进化、演替的研究方法等.     

Vegetation dynamics: patterns in time and space

This paper introduces the collection of contributions in this special volume on temporal and spatial patterns of vegetation dynamics. First, it is pointed out that the dynamics of any piece of vegetation, large or small, is always dependent on the degree of isolation of that piece towards its environment. Then ten types of island situation are treated ranging from very much to very little isolated: remote species-rich oceanic islands, remote species-poor islands, young big islands near a continent, small off-shore islands, emerging islands, isolated hills, landscape islands, isolated patches of vegetation, and gaps in stands of vegetation.Also, eight forms of vegetation dynamics are treated, ranging from short-term to long-term changes and involving larger and larger units: individuals, patches, communities, landscapes and vegetation regions. The forms of dynamics are fluctuation, gap dynamics, patch dynamics, cyclic succession, regeneration succession, secondary succession, primary succession, and secular succession. Each form of dynamics may occur under varying degrees of isolation.The general conclusion is that processes and patterns of vegetation dynamics cannot be generalized in any simple manner. The 20 papers collected in this volume, divergent as they are, express the complexity of vegetation dynamics.     

The effect of a seed source on primary succession in a forest ecosystem

An analysis of the Relative Importance Value Index (RIVI) of later successional tree species and the Shannon diversity indexH of all tree and shrub species was undertaken on previously mined sites within a sparsely forested area in central Florida, USA. A comparative analysis of the distance to a seed source and the age of a site suggested that the distance to a seed source was the best predictor (R ²=0.85) of the regeneration of the later successional species and a good predictor of species diversity. Both theRIVI of the later successional species and the diversity index decreased with the distance from the seed source. The lack of a seed source containing climax species resulted in arrested succession at some sites. It is suggested that biological information is the causative means of succession and the dispersal of this information entails spatial dependency while its introduction and development are time dependent processes.Research was part of a project of the Center for Wetlands, University of Florida, Gainesville under contract with the Florida Institute of Phosphate Research. Interactions of Wetlands with Phosphate Mining, H. T. Odum and G. R. Best, principal investigators. B. T. Rushton, J. Butner, G. R. Best, R. S. Schnoes and S. R. Humphrey are thanked for the use of their data.     

Succession following the catastrophic eruption of Ksudach volcano (Kamchatka, 1907)

Ksudach Volcano, southern Kamchatka Peninsula, erupted in 1907 and impacted over 2000 km² of forests with air-fall pumice deposits. We identified three impact zones. In Zone I, deposits deeper than 100 cm destroyed all vegetation. Two early successional stages occur, a lichen-dominated desert and isolated patches of a pioneer herb stage. Zone II is defined by pumice deposits 30 to 100 cm deep. Deposits of 70 to 100 cm destroyed all vegetation, but left scattered snags. Here primary succession dominates recovery, but its rate varies. Isolated trees survived in deposits of 30 to 70 cm and primary and secondary successional stages form a complex mosaic termed an intermediate succession. In Zone II, the primary stages found in Zone I are joined by a dwarf shrub-herb stage and a secondary birch forest stage. Zone III occurs where thinner deposits permitted some vegetation to survive in all locations. Secondary succession dominates in deposits of 10 to 30 cm. Trees suffered damage, but survived deposits of 20 to 30 cm, while other vegetation layers were eliminated. Deposits of 10 to 20 cm eliminated mosses and lichens and but only reduced the number of dwarf shrubs and herbs. Deposits of less than 10 cm damaged herb, moss and lichen layers but did not eliminate any species. All sampled vegetation remains in a pre-climax state, having yet to recover fully from earlier eruptions. Reconstructed vegetation maps for before 1907 and for ca. 1925 are compared to the map of vegetation in 1994. Based on degree of soil formation, vegetation recovery and colonization rates at different pumice depths, and the current vegetation, we estimate that full recovery of the soil-vegetation system will take more than 2000 years.     

毛乌素沙地油蒿群落的循环演替

流动沙地→半流动沙地白沙蒿群落→半固定沙地油蒿＋白沙蒿群落→固定沙地油蒿群落→固定沙地油蒿＋本氏针茅＋苔藓群落→地带性的本氏针茅草原及其迅速沙化的植被发展过程是毛乌素沙地植被自发演替的基本过程。油蒿具有耐沙埋、抗风蚀、耐土壤贫瘠等特性,是该地区最主要的优良固沙植物和重要牧草。半固定、固定沙地池蒿群落在毛乌素沙地的生态环境保护和农牧业生产方面发挥着极其重要的作用,维持其稳定十分重要。然而,其沙化的现     

演替理论与植被恢复

《昆明-蒙特利尔全球生物多样性框架》提出要高质量保护和恢复各30%的土地,最大化地实现保护生物多样性和缓解气候变化的目标,而演替理论和植被恢复可以为实现30%的保护和恢复目标服务。演替理论是植被生态学中的核心理论,演替是指在一个地点上由一群不同物种组成的生命体的结构或组成随时间而变化的过程; 植被恢复是以植物种植、配置为主,恢复或重建植物群落或天然更新恢复植物群落的过程,植被恢复是生态系统结构和功能从简单到复杂、从低级向高级变化的过程,最终目的是建立健康稳定的植物群落。演替是植被恢复的基础,植被恢复被视为对演替过程的操纵,以达到恢复受损植被生态系统的目标。演替理论可以指导植被恢复,而植被恢复对演替理论的发展有益。演替按裸地性质可以分为原生演替和次生演替,有研究建议将恢复过程视为第三演替,这将有助于理解通过人为干预促进植被恢复成功的管理选择,特别是通过强调退化生态系统中的环境和生物遗存的管理选择。此外,该文还提出了植被恢复理论和演替理论未来可能重点关注的科学和技术问题。     

Management of permanent set-aside on arable land in Sweden

1. Set-aside fields have been an important element of the European agricultural landscape since the introduction of the set-aside scheme by the European Community. However, countries in the European Community differ in their rules for managing set-aside owing to different priorities.
2. In Sweden, a major goal is to reduce the total use of agricultural pesticides, consequently their use is prohibited in set-aside. The options for weed control are therefore cutting and/or the use of a cover crop.
3. In this study, we describe the course of succession following the abandonment of farmland managed in different ways. The floristic composition was followed over a 10-year period. Temporal trends in community development are described.
4. The experiment began in 1975 on farmland at six localities, distributed from southern to northern Sweden. The management treatments involving the application of fertilizers and cutting were applied to plots sown with a cover crop and to plots in which the succession started from bare ground.
5. We found that competitive interactions between species largely determined the successional course in our study. The competitive success of species was related to the management practices applied but there were also interactions between management and site conditions.
6. We propose that natural succession can be recommended on poor sites in combination with cutting, mainly to prevent the invasion of woody species. On fertile sites a cover crop should be used to suppress perennial weeds, and cutting is recommended mainly to increase species diversity.     

1992—2018年内蒙古自治区植被动态演替特征及驱动力

人类的建设与破坏活动是植被动态变化的重要根源之一,利用遥感探究植被演替的量化监测过程及驱动力能够很好揭示人类活动对生态本底的影响。本研究利用欧洲航天局逐年土地覆被数据及地理学信息图谱方法,从植被型组、植被型尺度分析1992—2018年内蒙古自治区植被动态演替方向、演替速度及演替序列,明晰植被演替特征并量化其演替驱动力。结果表明: 研究期间,内蒙古自治区植被数量结构为“植增荒减”,具体年增长速率依次为耕地(353.10 km²)>草原(243.92 km²)>森林(-16.22 km²)>灌丛(-120.37 km²)>荒漠(-556.31 km²),并且空间相邻分布的草原、荒漠、灌丛三者的面积变化存在权衡关系。植被演替空间呈“绿进沙退”格局,演替热点集中于西辽河平原、内蒙古中部荒漠-草原交界处及黄河沿岸;植被演替序列结构复杂,进展、逆行演替相互交错,不同群落演替流量的截流率差距突出,其中,植被型组草原、灌丛与植被型草地、雨养农田群落在演替过程中截获最多演替流量。植被动态演替的核心驱动力为农牧业生产、经济发展水平、人口规模、生态工程、气候变化。作为“植物群落学-景观生态学”的实例研究,本研究结果可为植被格局优化、演替等级提升等生态措施实施空间的划定提供科学依据。     

Effect of legume species introduction to early abandoned field on vegetation development

One of the most important areas in ecology is to elucidate the factors that drive succession in ecosystems. The purpose of our study was to assess the effects of legume species (Medicago sativa, Melilotus suaveolens and Astragalus adsurgens) introduction to abandoned arable land on vegetation development in the Loess Plateau, China. Results from our study showed that addition of legume species strongly affected the composition of recently abandoned-field vegetation. Legume species were effective at reducing the number and dominance of natural colonizers (mainly weeds from the seed bank). The introduction of legume species into newly abandoned fields maintained high total cover and above-ground biomass and could improve soil organic carbon and total nitrogen. However, the effects of the treatments were species-specific. Melilotus suaveolens turned out to be severely suppressive to natural colonizers (weed species). Also, Melilotus suaveolens-adding maintained the highest cover and above-ground biomass and was helpful to improve later succession species, e.g. Stipa breviflora and Astragalus polycladus, to invade and establish. Medicago sativa-adding was superior in enhancing the soil organic carbon and total nitrogen. The present results suggested that addition of legume species with greater cover and biomass strongly suppressed the dominance of the weedy species in early succession and the course of old-field succession may be accelerated by introduction of legume species at least temporarily. However, the experimental period was too short to assess to what extent succession may be affected in the longer term.     

The faunal structure of a mid-Cretaceous rudist reef core

The macrofaunal distribution of the mid-Cretaceous El Abra Limestone reef core is quantified from two measured sections in Taninul Quarry, San Luis Potosi, central Mexico. The faunal structure is transitional between typical Lower Cretaceous reefs dominated by corals with low-density rudist bivalve packing; and densely-packed, rudist-dominated Upper Cretaceous reefs. The macrofauna is predominantly associations of unconnected individuals of caprinid rudists, with a low diversity of other shelly mollusks and corals. An examination of the alternation of paleocommunities defined by the dominant caprinid taxa reveals no pattern of biotic succession within the reef core. Large-scale sedimentologic features of mud and debris content, coupled with rudist growth type, suggest that paleocommunities may have been physically controlled.     

Evaluation of Succession in an Estuarine Macrobenthic Soft-Bottom Community near Tampa,Florida

A subtidal macrobenthic infaunal community was quantitatively sampled monthly from February 1975 to July 1978 (42 months). During that period, complete defaunation (presumably due to hypoxia) occurred three times at approximately annual intervals. The recovery of the community was examined for successional patterns by quantitative and qualitative normal and inverse classification analyses and by rank-order analysis of the dominant species. There was no consistent pattern of succession from recovery to recovery. Samples taken just after defaunation were not similar to each other and no consistent suites of species were detected. Classical succession in which suites of species are successively replaced by other suites until a persisting suite of species occurs (faciliation model) was not found. Other models of succession are discussed.     

Diatom flora of a kettle-hole bog in relation to hydrarch succession zones

Diatom assemblages were compared to the vegetational seres and to physical and chemical parameters of a kettle-hole bog which had distinct hydrarch successional zones and was in turn surrounded by a cattail marsh and a willow swamp. Multivariate analysis of variance showed the water parameters (temperature, pH, conductivity, color, free calcium) among the zones were significantly different (p < 0.0001). Diatoms were enumerated using the first 500 valves counting method and results showed each zone had a distinct flora. Cluster analysis of the diatom data by both species and zones grouped the bog successional zones into one major group and the marsh/swamp zones into the second major group. The occurrence of well defined seral stages of vegetation and diatoms suggests microorganisms are undergoing ecological succession in kettle-hole bogs.     

Agro-Successional Restoration as a Strategy to Facilitate Tropical Forest Recovery

With the increasing need to restore former agricultural lands worldwide and in the tropics, in particular, it is critical to explore different models for how to restore these lands in a cost-effective manner which best simulates natural forest recovery and provides for human livelihoods. We propose that agro-successional restoration, which we define as incorporating a range of agroecology and agroforestry techniques as a transition phase early in forest restoration, could be used more widely to overcome socioeconomic and ecological obstacles to restoring these lands. Over centuries, farmers and scientists have developed various agroforestry techniques that aim to cultivate crops and trees, in a range of crop types, time periods of cultivation (a few years to several decades), and complexity of species planted. The management practices used in these systems, such as weeding and increasing soil fertility, parallel those used in many forest restoration efforts. The synergism between these approaches is evidenced by many existing agro-successional examples currently used by smallholders in the tropics. Benefits of the agro-successional model include extending the management period of restoration, offsetting some management costs, providing food security for small landholders, and involving small landholders in the restoration process.     

Vegetation development in abandoned gravel pits: effects of surrounding vegetation,substrate and regionality

Abstract. Vegetation development in 68 abandoned gravel pits and their surroundings in five regions in Sweden is described by means of classification and ordination. Most pits were less than 10 yr old, but some pits in central Sweden were up to 100 yr old. For 26 pits in central Sweden the results of mechanical and chemical soil analyses are presented. Vegetation in young pits is more homogeneous than the vegetation in the surroundings. The surrounding vegetation type strongly affects pit vegetation. There are regional differences in pit vegetation between pits in coniferous forests in different parts of Sweden. Old gravel pits are clearly distinguished from young ones and show more resemblance to the surrounding vegetation. Tree layer cover and nitrogen content increase, whereas C/N ratio and pH decrease with age. Species richness of the gravel pits was not related to their size.     

Effects of landslides on the mountain vegetation of Flores Island,Azores

Question: What are the consequences of frequently occurring landslides on vegetation dynamics, floristic and structural diversity? Location: 39°27′N; 31°13′W – Morro Alto, Flores Island, Azores, Portugal. Methods: Six comparable landslides were selected. Plots were placed at the top, slope and toe of landslides. Data on floristic composition and biovolume, demography and size structure of the dominant tree species (Juniperus brevifolia) were collected. Hierarchical agglomerative clustering and Principal Component Analysis were used in order to identify succession stages and compare succession pathways and vegetation recovery in different parts of the landslides. Results: Four stages of primary succession on substrates formed by landslides were identified: pioneer (Festuca‐Sphagnum grassland), assembly (Juniperus‐Festuca‐Sphagnum open scrub), building (Juniperus‐Sphagnum scrub) and mature (Juniperus‐Sphagnum woodland). Concerning J. brevifolia populations, the succession pathways are independent of location on the landslide. However, at the floristic level, there are some differences, mainly in the pioneer stage at the toes of landslides. Better abiotic conditions, resulting in a higher succession rate, are probably responsible for a faster vegetation recovery on landslide toes. Conclusion: Landslides trigger succession processes that enable a massive regeneration of the dominant tree species and existence of species not present in mature forests. They are also responsible for the simultaneous occurrence of vegetation of different structures. Overall, landslides increase the floristic and structural diversity of the vegetation, consequently increasing landscape heterogeneity.     

Post-burn succession on Brittany heathlands

Abstract. Vegetation succession after severe burning of a Brittany heathland was recorded in permanent plots for ten years. Mosses are the first colonizers, soon forming a dense layer which locally prevents establishment of new species. Ten years later, the moss layer is still an important component of the regenerating heathland. After ten years the pattern of species distribution is mosaic-like with grassy patches (Agrostis), heath patches (Erica, Flex), and wood (Betula). Processes which may be involved in this successional pattern are discussed. They are found to be pluriform: various strategy types, types of response to disturbance and various succession models operate simultaneously.     

江苏省海滩植被演替的研究

江苏省海滩植被可分为滨海盐土植被、盐沼植被及海滩沙生植被三个基本类型。本文论述了这些植被类型的演替规律。滨海盐土植被与盐沼植被的演替,外因于土壤盐分含量递减与有机质含量的递增;海滩沙生植被的演替,外因于土壤沙颗粒大小及其相应的土壤含水量的变化,所以海滩植被演替为外因动态演替。     

Directionality and community-level selection

Many ecological community dynamics display some degree of directionality, known as succession patterns. But complex interaction networks frequently tend to non-directional dynamics such as chaos, unless additional structures or mechanisms impose some form of, often fragile or shot-lived, directionality. We exhibit here a novel property of emergent long-lasting directionality in competitive communities, which relies on very minimal assumptions. We model communities where each species has a few strong competitive interactions, and many weak ones. We find that, at high enough diversity, the dynamics become directional, meaning that the community state can be characterized by a function that increases in time, which we call ‘maturity'. In the presence of noise, the community composition changes toward increasingly stable and productive states. This scenario occupies a middle ground between deterministic succession and purely random species associations: there are many overlapping stable states, with stochastic transitions, that are nevertheless biased in a particular direction. When a spatial dimension is added in the form of a meta-community, higher-maturity community states are able to expand in space, replacing others by (exact or approximate) copies of themselves. This leads to community-level selection, with the same maturity function acting as fitness. Classic concepts from evolutionary dynamics provide a powerful analogy to understand this strictly ecological, community-level phenomenon of emergent directionality.