Ecological Succession
30 Ontological Micro-Realms · Primary/Secondary, Autogenic/Allogenic & Xerarch/Hydrarch Pathways
The 30 Ontological Nodes of Realm 11
Ultra-Crisp 2-to-5-Word Architectural Portals
Ecological Succession
- Ragnar Hult 1885-term
- Directional community replacement
- Cowles and Clements-theory
- Predictable temporal development
Sere & Seral Communities
- Sere: entire developmental-sequence
- Pioneer initial colonizers
- Seral transitional communities
- Climax terminal equilibrium
Primary Succession (Prisere)
- Starts on sterile-substrate
- Zero pre-existing soil
- Zero organic seed-bank
- Requires centuries-to-millennia
Primary Bare Substrates
- Cooled volcanic lava-basalt
- Surtsey Krakatoa islands
- Retreating glacial moraines
- Newly formed sand-dunes
Secondary Succession (Subsere)
- Follows community disturbance
- Intact mature soil-profile
- Surviving seed-spore bank
- Rapid 50–200-year recovery
Post-Fire & Old-Field Subsere
- Abandoned agricultural farmland
- Post-wildfire forest regrowth
- Windthrow storm gaps
- Root-crown resprouting acceleration
Primary vs Secondary
- Nudation complete vs-partial
- Lichen pioneers vs-annual-weeds
- Pedogenesis required vs-humus-present
- Slow versus fast-velocity
Autogenic Succession
- Self-driven biotic replacement
- Organisms alter own-habitat
- Litter humus accumulation
- Canopy shading self-replacement
Allogenic Succession
- Externally driven abiotic-shift
- Geophysical climate forcing
- River siltation deposition
- Sea-level coastal changes
Autogenic vs Allogenic
- Arthur Tansley 1935-distinction
- Biotic reaction vs-abiotic-forcing
- Predictable vs episodic-shifts
- Coupled real-world interplay
Progressive Succession
- Forward complexity ascent
- Increasing total biomass
- Taller canopy stratification
- Rising species diversity
Retrogressive Succession
- Backward degenerative reversal
- Forest-to-scrub-to-barren
- Driven by chronic-overgrazing
- Acid rain soil-exhaustion
Deflected Succession
- Arrested by recurring-disturbance
- Maintained plagioclimax state
- Mowing grazing burning-regimes
- Managed anthropogenic grasslands
Autotrophic Succession
- Dominated by green-plants
- Starts in inorganic-environment
- Gross Production exceeds-Respiration
- Organic matter accumulates
Heterotrophic Succession
- Dominated by fungi-bacteria-detritivores
- Starts on organic-detritus
- Respiration exceeds Production
- Depletes substrate to-zero
Microsere (Serule)
- Miniature microhabitat succession
- Dead fallen tree-trunks
- Animal carrion decomposition-waves
- Dung-pat coprophilous fungi
Cyclic Succession
- Alex Watt 1947-model
- Pioneer-building-mature-degenerate
- Heather Calluna moorland-cycle
- Non-directional internal regeneration
Induced Succession
- Human-engineered crop communities
- Agricultural weed inhibition
- Reverts upon abandonment
- Managed silvicultural plantations
Xerarch Succession (Xerosere)
- Initiated in dry-habitats
- Extreme water deficiency
- Progressive moisture retention
- Subdivided by substrate-type
Lithosere: 6 Rock Stages
- Crustose-foliose lichen stages
- Moss bryophyte mat-stage
- Annual-perennial herb stage
- Shrub to climax-forest
Lichen Rock Weathering
- Rhizocarpon Parmelia pioneers
- Carbonic lichenic acid-secretion
- Chelation mineral dissolution
- Traps wind-blown dust-humus
Psammosere: Sand Dunes
- Shifting quartz sand-substrate
- Ammophila marram-grass binding
- Embryo fore-yellow-grey dunes
- Cowles Lake Michigan-dunes
Halosere: Salt Marshes
- Saline intertidal mudflats
- Salicornia glasswort pioneers
- Spartina cordgrass sediment-trapping
- Elevates land desalinates-soil
Oxylosere & Epilithic Seres
- Oxylosere acidic peat-bogs
- Sphagnum cation-exchange acidification
- Chasmosere rock-crevice succession
- Gypsosere gypsum-crust succession
Hydrarch Succession (Hydrosere)
- Initiated in freshwater-ponds
- Progressive siltation shallowing
- Organic peat-muck buildup
- Aquatic-to-terrestrial conversion
Early Hydrosere Stages (1–3)
- 1. Phytoplankton pioneer-stage
- 2. Rooted submerged (Hydrilla-Vallisneria)
- 3. Rooted floating (Nymphaea-Nelumbo)
- Free-floating Azolla Lemna-mats
Late Hydrosere Stages (4–7)
- 4. Reed-swamp emergent (Typha-Phragmites)
- 5. Sedge-meadow marsh (Carex-Juncus)
- 6. Woodland shrub-stage (Salix-Alnus)
- 7. Mesophytic climax-forest
Mesarch Climax Convergence
- Dry becomes wetter
- Wet becomes drier
- Both converge on-mesic
- Equifinality climatic convergence
Odum's Bioenergetic Trends
- E.P. Odum 1969-table
- Linear-grazing to detritus-webs
- Open to closed-nutrient-cycles
- r-strategists to K-strategists
Chronosequence Method
- Space-for-time substitution
- Glacier Bay Alaska-moraines
- Hawaii lava-flow ages
- Palynological sediment cores
Core Ontological Distinctions
1. Primary Succession (Prisere) vs. Secondary Succession (Subsere)Primary Succession starts on a completely sterile, lifeless substrate with zero soil and zero seeds (cooled lava, bare rock, glacial retreat), requiring hundreds to thousands of years to build soil via pioneer lichens/mosses. Secondary Succession starts after a disturbance (fire, logging, abandoned farmland) where well-developed soil, humus, and a subterranean seed bank already exist, reaching climax much faster (50–200 years).
2. Autogenic vs. Allogenic SuccessionAutogenic Succession is driven from within by the living organisms themselves modifying their own environment (adding humus, altering soil pH, casting shade). Allogenic Succession is driven from outside by external geophysical or climatic forces (siltation from a river catchment, volcanic ash, climate shifts).
3. Xerarch vs. Hydrarch ConvergenceXerarch Succession (Xerosere) begins in extremely dry conditions (bare rock Lithosere or sand Psammosere) and progressively retains more moisture. Hydrarch Succession (Hydrosere) begins in open water and progressively fills in with sediment and peat. Remarkably, both opposite pathways converge toward the exact same medium-moisture Mesic (Mesarch) Climax Forest.
Realm 11 Complete
All 30 nodes of **Realm 11: Ecological Succession** (`11.01` to `11.30`) are forged. Next is the final realm of **World A**: **Realm 12: Succession Process & Climax** (`[012 / 266]`).