Chapter 58.3, Problem 2CC

Inhibition implies that competition exists between species, with early-arriving species tending to outcompete later arrivals, at least for a while. Does competition or mutualism feature more prominently in facilitation?

Figure 58.8 Three models of succession. A, B, C, and D represent four stages, with D representing the climax community. An arrow means “is replaced by,” + stands for “facilitation,” − stands for “inhibition,” and 0 indicates no effect. The facilitation model is the classic model of succession. In the inhibition model, early-arriving species outcompete later-arriving species. The tolerance model depends on which species gets there first. The colored arrows show that succession may bypass some stages in the tolerance model.