Ruderal species

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

ee also

* Edge effect
* Restoration ecology
* Examples of ruderal species:
** "Conyza bonariensis" (family Asteraceae)
** "Dittrichia viscosa" (Asteraceae)
** "Nicotiana glauca" (Solanaceae)

External links

* [http://www.calpoly.edu/~bio/Faculty/Holland/Polycnyn/rudrl.htm "Ruderal Community" on the California Polytechnic State University web site]
* [http://www.mycorrhiza.org/antifertz.pdf St. John TV. 1987. SOIL DISTURBANCE AND THE MINERAL NUTRITION OF NATIVE PIANTS in Proceedings of the 2nd Native Plant Revegetation Symposium]
* [http://www.garfield.library.upenn.edu/classics1989/A1989U198000001.pdf Chapin. FS. III. 1980. The mineral nutrition of wild plants. Ann. Rev. Ecol. System, 11:233-260.]
* [http://81.1911encyclopedia.org/R/RU/RUDERAL.htm "Ruderal" in the 1911 Britannica]