Is there competition in initial ecosystem?

Self-assembly has always fascinated people. Ecologists were particularly interested in the emergence of ecological systems during primary succession. However, respective opportunities to trace initial community assembly are scarce and mainly restricted to faraway volcano eruptions or glacier retreat areas difficult to access. An occasion to study primary succession in Europe is the Chicken Creek (German: Hühnerwasser), a six ha constructed catchment located in the Lusatian lignite mining district. Since its onset in 2005 it has been intensively monitored, e.g. in terms of hydrology, meteorology, vegetation and soil fauna. By the end of September 2015 we will celebrate its 10th anniversary with an international symposium (https://www.tu-cottbus.de/projekte/de/ecosystem/symposium-10-years-huehnerwasser.html).

In our recent contribution to Oikos “Species interactions and random dispersal rather than habitat filtering drive community assembly during early plant succession” we analyse the first seven years of community assembly (2005-2011) to test for competitive interactions and the effects on community assembly. We found initial random colonisation and the subsequent emergence of competitive hierarchies, particularly at smaller spatial scales. Above the plant interaction horizon we observed the onset of patchiness and an increased diversity although filter and possibly priority effects were weak.