A ruderal species is a plant species that is first to colonise disturbed lands. The disturbance may be natural (e.g., wildfires or avalanches), or due to human influence - constructional (e.g., road construction, building construction or mining), or agricultural (e.g., abandoned farming fields or abandoned irrigation ditches).
Ruderal species typically dominate the disturbed area for a few years, gradually losing the competition to other native species. However, in extreme disturbance circumstances, such as when the natural topsoil is covered with a foreign substance, a single-species ruderal community may become permanently established, as depicted in the image on the right. In addition, some ruderal invasive species may have such a competitive advantage over the natural species that they, too, may permanently prevent a disturbed area from returning to its original state despite natural topsoil.
Features
Features contributing to a species success as ruderal are:- Massive seed production
- Modest seedling nutritional requirements
- Fast-growing roots
- Independence of mycorrhizae
See also
- Edge effect
- Restoration ecology
- Examples of ruderal species:
External links
- "Ruderal Community" on the California Polytechnic State University web site
- St. John TV. 1987. SOIL DISTURBANCE AND THE MINERAL NUTRITION OF NATIVE PIANTS in Proceedings of the 2nd Native Plant Revegetation Symposium
- Chapin. FS. III. 1980. The mineral nutrition of wild plants. Ann. Rev. Ecol. System, 11:233-260.
- Ruderal in the 1911 Britannica
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Last updated on Thursday July 17, 2008 at 04:10:35 PDT (GMT -0700)
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