Coral cays, vegetational succession

Abstract

As a bare cay forms and increases in size, its vegetation goes through a predictable progression of successional stages: bare cay ! pioneer vegetation ! pioneer vegetation plus encirclement by shrubs ! herb meadow ! savannah (parkland) ! forest. Plants of the earliest stages tend to be sea-dispersed whereas later the vegetation consists mostly of bird-dispersed species. The vegetation becomes progressively organized into concentric zones with earlier successional stages located peripherally and later ones successively toward the center. This sequence can be altered, or reversed, by various destructive forces, including trampling by seabirds, uprooting of vegetation by sea turtles, drought, erosion of beaches, washover during storms, and human activities.