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Plant Physiology and Ecology

BOTN2112
Lecture-30

Muhammad Javed
Department of Botany
University of Education, Lahore
Campus Dera Ghazi Khan

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 PLANT SUCCESSION
• The process of community development is
called succession
• Community changes alter the ecosystem
• This change favors the competitors
• Thus the species replace one another
• Finally a stable, self sustaining and climax
community is reached
• Succession is a kind of community relay

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• In this case plants and animals replace one
another in a sequence
• That sequence is predictable
• The diverse and precise changes occur during
succession
• These changes take place according to
changes in the environment in which
succession occurs
• Certain general stages of succession can be
easily recognized
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• Each succession begins by a few hardy
invaders called pioneers
• Succession ends with a diverse and relatively
stable climax community
• A community in which population of different
species remain uniform is called climax
community

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 MAJOR FORMS OF SUCCESSION
• Succession of dry land takes places in two
major forms;
Primary succession
Secondary succession

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 PRIMARY SUCCESSION
• The formation of ecosystem from bare rock,
sand or clear glacial pool where previous life
does not exist is called primary succession
• In this case, the ecosystem is formed from the
start
• So it is a long process
• It often requires thousands of years

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• Primary succession may start in any habitat
• Succession may be hydrosere, derosere,
xerosere, psammosere and halosere
Hydrosere
• In this case, the primary succession occurs in a
pond
Derosere
• In this case, succession occurs on a dry soil or
rock

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Xerosere
• In this case, succession occurs on dry habitat
• Plants growing in xerophytic condition are
xerophytes
• Xerophytes can withstand prolonged periods
with water storage
• Water is stored in a large parenchyma tissue
in succulent plants like Cacti
• Other xerophytes have leaf modifications for
storage of water
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Psammosere
• The succession which occurs on sand dunes is
called psammosere
Halosere
• The succession which occurs on saline soil is
called halosere

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 SECONDARY SUCCESSION
• The formation of a new ecosystem after the
disturbance of an existing ecosystem is called
secondary succession
• The disturbance may be in the form of forced
fire or abandoned farm field
• The previous community leaves some marks in
the form of improved soil and seeds
• Therefore secondary succession occurs more
rapidly than primary succession
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 AUTOGENIC SUCCESSION
• The succession in which organisms themselves
bring changes in the environment during
succession is called autogenic succession
• The organisms cause changes in the soil
• These changes include accumulation of
organic matter in the form of humus or litter,
alternation of soil nutrients and changes in
soil pH
• The structures of the plants change
themselves can also change the community
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 ALLOGENIC SUCCESSION
• The succession in which external
environmental factors cause changes in the
environment during succession is called
allogenic succession
• Soil erosion, leaching or deposition of silt can
change the soil
• Similarly, clay can alter the nutrient content
and water relationships in the ecosystems
• Animals also play an important role in
allogenic changes
• They act as pollinators, seed dispersers and
herbivores 13
 DEVELOPMENT OF SUCCESION
• The process of community development is
called succession
• Different stages are involved in the
development of succession in a bare area
• These stages are;
Migration
Ecesis
Aggregation
Competition reaction
Stabilization 14
 MIGRATION
• All bare areas are without seeds and other
propagules
• Seeds, spores and runners of the pioneer
species migrate to this area
• Following factors affect the migration;
Mobility
Dispersing agents

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Mobility
• The movement of a species to move out of the
present area is called mobility
• It depends upon the nature of dispersal mechanism,
number of seeds produced and the position of seeds
or spores
• Thus plant may be spore distributed, seed
distributed, fruit distributed and offshoot distributed
Dispersing agents
• Migration also depends upon the dispersing agents
• The important dispersing agents are water, wind,
explosive mechanism, animals and man

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 ECESIS
• The phenomenon of growth of propagules
and their adjustments in the new surrounding
is called ecesis
• It consists of three essential processes;
Germination
Growth
Reproduction

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Germination
• It is the first critical process of ecesis
• The dormant seed becomes active and begins
to germinate and grow
• Some seeds do not grow
• They are called dormant seeds
• They remain dormant for few weeks, months
and even years
• Dormancy may be due to both external and
internal causes
• Proper depth is also an important condition
for successful seed germination 18
Growth
• The seed germinates, grows and develops into
seedling
• It is very critical stage for the survival of plants
• There is excessive competition among themselves
and with other species
• Competition may be for space, nutrition , water and
light
Reproduction
• The plant grows and becomes mature
• Then it develops different reproductive structures
• Some plants reproduce asexually
• Some undergo sexual reproduction
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 AGGREGATION
• The growth of plants in the forms of colonies
is called aggregation
• The aggregation may be simple or mixed
• The grouping and growing of offspring around
the parent plant is called simple aggregation
• The gradual spreading and mixing of the
neighboring plants is called mixed aggregation
• It is caused due to process of migration

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 COMPETITION
• The struggle for existence between the plants is
called competition
• The simple and mixed aggregation causes
competition
• Sometimes two plants demand light nutrients or
water in excess supply
• It causes competition between these two plants
• It is universal characteristic of all plant
communities
• It increases with increase in population density
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• There are two types of competition
Intraspecific competition
• The competition within the individuals of the
same species is called intraspecific competition
• These individuals have same demands
• So it is more severe
Interspecific competition
• The competition between different species is
called interspecific competition
• Different species have different requirements for
water, nutrients and space
• So it is less severe form of competition
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• In the climax communities every strata and every
kind of plant adjust themselves to the habitat
• So they become interdependent upon each other
• All the plants living in a climax community do not
face any competition for food, water, space and
air
• A dominant plant does not compete with
secondary dominant one, under shrubs or ground
flora
• Each layer and each species have different
requirements for water, light, space and nutrients

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 REACTION
• The effects of plants on the habitat are known as
reactions
• Some reactions are direct result of the plant
activities
• These include decrease of water by absorption
and increase in humidity due to transpiration
• There is death and decay of plants or plant organs
• It adds organic matter into the soil
• Therefore, the physical and chemical properties
of the soil are changed
• Thus soil fertility is increased and water holding
capacity of soil is improved 24
 STABILIZATION
• Many reactions have taken place in the community
and habitat
• Now a time has come that no reaction are possible
• Therefore, now the habitat can not be modified
further
• At this stage, a stable and complex community is
formed
• It becomes more or less permanent and stabilized
• Now this community is fully developed, stable, self
perpetuating
• It is in equilibrium with climate
• This type of community is known as climax
community 25
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