The Ecology Book

172

THE COMMUNITY

ARISES, GROWS,

MATURES, AND DIES

CLIMAX COMMUNITY

T

he term “climax community”

was first proposed in 1916

by American botanist

Frederic Clements. He used it to

describe an enduring ecological

community that has reached a

steady state, such as a naturally

stable forest of old-growth trees

that has not undergone or been

subjected to any unnatural

changes, such as logging.

Regional communities

In the 19th century, German

botanists August Grisebach and

Oscar Drude were among those

who recognized that patterns of

vegetation around the world reflect

factors such as climate variations.

It was clear, for example, that the

typical vegetation in a wet, tropical

climate was very different to that in

a dry, temperate climate. Then in a

landmark paper in 1899, American

botanist Henry Cowles described

how plants colonized sand dunes

around Lake Michigan in stages—

or “successions”—of increasing

size and complexity.

In an influential book, Plant

Succession (1916), Frederic

Clements developed Cowles’s

idea, which he combined with the

biogeographic thinking of the two

IN CONTEXT

KEY FIGURE

Frederic Clements

(1874 –1945)

BEFORE

1872 German botanist

August Grisebach classifies

the world’s vegetation patterns

in relation to climate.

1874 British philosopher

Herbert Spencer suggests that

the human population can be

thought of as a giant organism.

1899 In the US, Henry Cowles

proposes that vegetation

develops in stages, a process

called succession.

AFTER

1926 US ecologist Henry

Gleason argues that a climax

community is a coincidental

collection of individuals.

1939 British botanist Arthur

Tansley suggests there is not

a single climax community but

“polyclimaxes” responding to

various factors.

At each stage, they

become bigger,

more complex, and

interconnected.

In every region, plants

grow and develop

through a series

of successions.

Eventually the vegetation

takes on the most

complicated interconnected

form the climate will allow.

Once a community

reaches this

“climax,” vegetation

stops changing.

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