Dear Colleagues,

Plant cover on earth is changing continuously on different temporal and spatial scales. Those changes can be very obvious or rather inconspicuous, they can occur as sudden events or as gradual shifts, they can be locally restricted or global phenomena and they can be effective on different time scales from weeks to thousands of years. Thus, changes in plant cover on earth encompass wide spatio-temporal spectra and also the reasons for their emergence are manyfold.

Processes of directional change in species composition and vegetation structure with time are referred to as succession, a fundamental, but controversially discussed concept in plant community ecology and vegetation geography ever since early accounts in the 19^th and 20^th century by pioneers such as Adolphe Dureau de la Malle, Eugen Warming, Henry Cowles, Frederic Clements or Henry A. Gleason. Directional succession, however, is just one part of vegetation dynamics. There exists a broad variety of additional processes and patterns of vegetation change in both, space and time such as mosaic cycles, gap dynamics or cohort dynamics following diebacks. A better understanding of successional pathways, the processes involved and vegetation dynamics in general is crucial in times of rapid environmental change and increasing frequency and intensity of natural and man-made disturbances, as it has important implications for ecosystem restoration and overall vegetation management.

This Special Issue aims at highlighting and showcasing recent findings and advances in the study of plant succession and vegetation dynamics. Case studies from all plant communities on earth are welcome, as are comparisons between different plant communities. Methods employed may include, but are not limited to, permanent plot studies, chronosequence approaches, manipulation experiments, remote sensing techniques and modelling, to cover a broad range of spatial and temporal scales as well as potential underlying reasons in vegetation dynamics today.

Dr. Thomas Fickert
Prof. Dr. Michael Richter
Guest Editors

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• vegetation dynamics
• succession
• mosaic cycles
• gap dynamics
• cohort dynamics
• colonization
• propagule dispersal pathways
• species turnover
• ecosystem functioning
• conservation
• natural regeneration

Plant succession in NW-Perú follows extremely variable rainfall scenarios

Richter, Michael; Rodriguez Arismendiz, Rodolfo.; Emck, Paul

This study is based on 24 years (October 1997 – April 2022) of vegetation monitoring on permanent test plots established in the perarid coastal area south of Paita, located in the Sechura Desert in NW Peru. The investigation began immediately before the last «Super-Niño» phenomenon in 1997/1998. During this phenomenon, sea positive surface temperature anomalies controlled regional precipitation patterns by a factor of 9.000% above the average. Apart from El Niño, which is well documented, there are other less intensively studied regional anomalies such as El Niño Costero, El Niño Modoki or also far reaching spillovers of wet air masses from the Amazonian escarpment of the Andes.

The main objective of this article is to present the influence of climatic extreme years on the regional flora and to document the impact of El Niño in the medium term in an arid terrestrial ecosystem. We also focus on the regional vegetation dynamics and the consequences on the food chain in three edaphic types that are: rocky desert (= hamada), gravel desert (= sserir) and sandy desert (= erg). During the first phase, annual grasses germinate. However, in the different types of soils there are differences during the successions and retrogressions. In the hamada type, the degree of coverage is lower from the beginning than in the other two types. Differences are shown in the spectra of the species and also in the types of disturbances (sand movement, rodent impact, among others). The development of the spectra of life forms also differs. The results are discussed in the context of global climate change, highlighting the importance of the role of El Niño in the renewal of ecosystems.

Key words: El Niño 1997/98, rainfall events, plant succession, ecological dynamics, climate change

Vegetation change in space and time – Types, trajectories and trends

Thomas Fickert & Michael Richter

The plant cover on earth is far from static, rather it is subject to continuous change on different spatial and temporal scales. Those changes can be very obvious or barely noticeable, they can run gradually or take place abruptly, they can be locally limited or extend over large areas, they can be operative over different periods of time from weeks to millions of years and they can be traced back to a variety of different causes. Thus, vegetation change covers a wide spatio-temporal range, from local and/or seasonal changes (e.g. phenological stages) up to developments on a spatially large and temporally long-term scale (e.g. the post-glacial vegetation development of Central Europe during the last 10.000 years). Processes and patterns involved in vegetation change have been a classic research field in biogeography since early accounts in the 19th century, which is experiencing kind of a revival today in times of climate warming and ongoing anthropogenic pressure on natural ecosystems. This review aims to summarize the present knowledge and recent findings about types, trajectories and trends related to vegetation change in space and time.