Stochastic trajectories of succession initiated by extreme climatic events

Extreme climatic events disturb species richness and species composition of the vegetation stronger than previously thought. Usually, vegetation changes continually and deterministically. Yet, researchers of the Department of Biogeography at UBT show in the current issue of “Ecology Letters” that extreme heat and drought periods affect species richness and composition so severely that their future development becomes stochastic and unpredictable.