ecological succession

...usually refers to a change in vegetation, but can also include changes in animal communities and ecosystems. It refers to a change over a period of several thousand years, such as when abandoned farmland gives way to grassland and then forest. It is also called ecological succession to distinguish it from geological succession, which is a change in vegetation over geological time periods due to climate change and plant evolution.
[Research History]
Research into the development of high moors in Europe had already revealed in the early 19th century that plant communities change as lakes shallowen, and the concept of succession was created.

*Some of the terminology that refers to "ecological succession" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…普通は植生の変化を意味するが，動物群集や生態系の変化を含めることもある。耕作を放棄した田畑が草原を経て森林に移り変わるというような長くても数千年の変化を意味し，気候変動や植物の進化に伴う地史的年代での植生の変化である地質学的遷移geological successionと区別するために，生態(学的)遷移ecological successionともいう。
［研究の歴史］
　ヨーロッパにおける高層湿原の発達過程の研究によって，すでに19世紀初頭には，湖の浅化につれて植物群落が交代していくことが明らかにされ，遷移という概念が作られていた。…

※「ecological succession」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報