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Facilitation Model. Based on the assumption that only particular species with qualities ideal for "early succession" can colonize the newly exposed landforms after an ecological disturbance. These "colonizing" qualities include: highly effective methods of dispersal, the ability to remain dormant for long periods of time, and a rapid growth rate.
An example of such "whole-community" facilitation is substrate stabilization of cobble beach plant communities in Rhode Island, US, by smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora). [6] Large beds of cordgrass buffer wave action, thus allowing the establishment and persistence of a community of less disturbance-tolerant annual and perennial plants ...
Facilitation cascades differ from the facilitation model of succession [8] because species accumulate in the ecosystem due to the direct and indirect effects of the primary and secondary facilitator, whereas in the succession, early species that play a facilitative role are, over time, replaced by later-stage species.
For example, initially identical ponds colonized by different species could develop through succession into very different communities. The Initial Floristic Composition model was put forward by Frank Egler to describe community development in abandoned agricultural fields . [ 6 ]
Surtsey, a volcanic island off the southern coast of Iceland, is an important example of a place where primary succession has been observed. [2] [3] On the other hand, secondary succession happens after disturbance of a community, such as from a fire, severe windthrow, or logging. Succession was among the first theories advanced in ecology.
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 area over time, have reached a steady state. This equilibrium was thought to occur because the climax community is ...
Autogenic succession can be viewed as a secondary succession because of pre-existing plant life. [6] A 2000 case study in the journal Oecologia tested the hypothesis that areas with high plant diversity could suppress weed growth more effectively than those with lower plant diversity.
Example 1 Autogenic Not considered ecosystem engineering Any species that are not considered ecosystem engineers. 2 Allogenic Transform resources into usable and/or more beneficial forms Cows, after eating grass, produce cow pats with their dung and are used by other invertebrates as a food source and a shelter. 3 Autogenic