Journal of Phylogenetics & Evolutionary Biology

Primary Succession Recapitulates Phylogeny

Abstract

Felix Bast

The parallelism between the process of primary succession and the evolution of life on this planet is remarkable and conspicuous, yet never been spotted before. The order, at which each seral community appear, right from the pioneer species until the climax communities, is by the order of appearance of the respective evolutionary lineages in the tree of life. Evolutionary history of life on this planet is, in fact, a massive and ongoing process of primary succession, and I believe that is the rationale for this striking harmony. Central premise of this postulation is the idea that the plants that have been evolved to adapt to an almost naked landscape would be the first to colonize new environments. In light of this parallelism, fields of ecological succession and phylogenetic systematics can mutually compliment for resolving perplexed conundrums, and can potentially enlighten the future of life on the planet earth.