Problem 2
Discuss how you would decide if a given successional sequence is a primary or a secondary succession, and how this distinction would affect your evaluation of the seral stages.
Problem 5
Discuss the application of the concept of succession to marine communities.
Problem 6
Relate the adaptive strategies of species in early and late stages of succession to what you know about the ideas of \(r\) and \(K\) selection.
Problem 7
In discussing forest succession as a plant-by-plant replacement process, Horn \((1975 b, p .210)\) states: "Copious self-replacement does not guarantee a species' abundance or even its persistence in late stages of succession." How can this be true?
Problem 8
If successional changes in a landscape are partly a result of the regional climate, what utility will this concept have in an era of rapid climate change such as we are now undergoing? How predictable will future successional sequences be, and will the past be a good guide to the future?
Problem 11
How can species that facilitate other species in a successional sequence evolve? For example, why should species that fix nitrogen from the air leak this nutrient into the soil to assist their competitors who will replace them in the successional sequence? Is this an example of altruistic behavior?
