Four Opportunities for Studies of Ecological Succession

Background

The authors introduce two approaches to the  study of forest succession: 1) Standardized experimental manipulation - removal or addition of abiotic and biotic factors - across ecological gradients can help elucidate the drivers of succession and 2) the use of meta-analyses of successional data improve the ability to observe temporal changes across broader geographical scales.

Conclusion & Takeaways

Modern disturbances, such as biodiversity loss, introduction of invasive species, and climate change affect rates and direction of succesion. These occurrencess offer valuable opportunities to observe how such disturbances influence ecological succession. Additional manipulations to enhance such disturbances (through deliberate introduction of invasive species, removal of biodiversity, or increasing CO2) can act as a guiding force to better view the specific drivers of succession. These diverse observations can, in turn, guide ecologcal restoration efforts across multiple ecological gradients.