Abstract
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.
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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.
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McClanahan, T.R. The effect of a seed source on primary succession in a forest ecosystem. Vegetatio 65, 175–178 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00044817
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00044817