Succession and community assembly research overlap in many respects, such as through
their focus on how ecological processes like dispersal, environmental filters, and biotic …

Background The central thesis of plant ecology is that climate determines the global
distribution of vegetation. Within a vegetation type, however, finer‐scale environmental …

Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel in Europe, but the excavation of hard coal has covered
large areas with disposed rock waste, and turned the natural habitats into disturbed novel …

Aims Ecological theories predict that assembly processes shape communities so that co‐
existing species may either be functionally more dissimilar (" divergence") or more similar (" …

Metacommunity theory predicts that the relative importance of regional and local processes
structuring communities will change over ecological succession. Determining effects of …

In primary successions, assembling plant communities are key for ecosystem functioning
and stability. Often, plant successions are described on a taxonomic, functional and/or …

Aims Tundra communities are known for their harsh environmental conditions and tundra is
one of the most vulnerable biomes on Earth. Restoring these unique communities after …

In alpine systems, cushion plants act as foundation species by ameliorating local
environmental conditions. Empirical studies indicate that contrasting phenotypes of alpine …

Plant succession is a fundamental process of vegetation recovery on disturbed sites.
Elucidating its mechanisms remains a challenge as succession is influenced by stochastic …

Describing the rules of community assembly is a central topic of ecology. Studying
successional processes through a trait-based null model approach can help to better …