BSCI 124 Lecture Notes

Undergraduate Program in Plant Biology, University of Maryland

LECTURE 34 - PLANT SUCCESSION

I. Plant succession - a series of predictable changes over time in the kinds of plants growing in an area II. Primary succession III. Secondary succession

A plant community may be disturbed causing some plants to be destroyed, as from a fire or from human logging or cultivation. If the disturbance stops, the community will begin a secondary succession, changes in the vegetation that will lead back to a climax community.

IV. Why is it important for you to know about succession? Other sites of interest

Woody plant succession, Ojibway Prairie Complex
Plant succession - Okanagan University College
Succession example - Alaska
Succession example - Vermont
Soil taxonomy - University of Idaho
Soil image library
Got the lawnmower blues? - Creating a natural yard.

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Last revised: September 1, 1998 - Browning
updated Dec. 2000 - Straney