Abstract
The vegetation dynamics of the first four years of an old field succession were studied in the Bohemian Karst, Czechoslovakia. The vegetation in a set of permanent 1 m2 quadrats on a newly abandoned field was analyzed yearly using the point quadrat method. The vegetation was classified both based on dominant species and on floristic data (TWINSPAN). Transition matrices were constructed, evaluated, and an ordination of quadrats provided supplementary information. The following conclusions can be drawn concerning the first four years of the succession:
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1.
The succession was found to be nearly unidirectional.
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2.
The rate of succession decreased with time.
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3.
The floristic composition changed more rapidly than the performance of the dominant species.
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4.
The influence of species composition in very early stages on further development was weak.
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5.
Whereas the importance of the small-scale environmental heterogeneity decreased with time, the importance of invasion potential increased.
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Lepš, J. Vegetation dynamics in early old field succession: a quantitative approach. Vegetatio 72, 95–102 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00044839
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00044839