Primary successions on quarries as a full-scale model for study of terrestrial ecosystems development

Quarries for the building materials extraction as territories with complex relief and a set of various habitats are a good full-scale model for study of vegetation development processes within heterogeneous landscape. In 2 forest-tundra quarries, where recovering time was 3 and 30 years, vegetation mapping took place in 1995, 1999, 2003 (in the new quarry), and in 1999, 2003 (in the old one). The analyses of the obtained 5 maps allowed revealing the common features of primary successions and formulate the model of vegetation development on heterogeneous territory, where different habitats are adjacent. The main trend of succession is the increasing of areas occupied by communities of moderate moistening habitats, and the environment stabilization by the plant cover.