Recapitulation: Succession as a Plant-by-Plant Replacement Process

Abstract

Some perennial species are present in the whole successional process, from meadow to forest, but with different proportions (5% to 80% area) in consecutive communities. The species exhibits high colonization ability, increases rapidly in number in a few years and maintains its dominance for some time. Crucial in the colonization and establishment of promoters is their specific clonal growth. Geometric increase in the shoot number and longevity of organs determine the role of clonal species in the dynamics of populations and communities, and determine their competitive ability. Only senescence and disintegration of polycormones give the chance to other species to appear within their area. Senescent polycormones are replaced by willows that initiate the development of brushwood. This indicates that competitive ability is closely related to individual age, which was also confirmed by Kershaw (1962) for Carex bigelowii. From earlier studies on promoter populations it can be inferred that it is the age structure which is responsible for the course of many population phenomena and determines the role of species in the structure and dynamics of vegetation (Falińska 1989a, b, 1990). Clumped spatial structure is mostly interpreted as population response to habitat microstructure and as the effect of uneven dissemination (Harper 1977, Connell and Slatyer 1977). However, an increase in the clumping-degree in populations results mainly from the growth of individuals into multi-shoot polycormones and clone formation. The division of polycormones and senescence of their oldest parts leads to the comeback of random spatial structure of the population, associated with decreasing proportions of these species in the structure of consecutive communities (Falińska 1985).