“According to Warming, the process of succession has in every habitat a discernible direction: It progresses toward a “climax” formation, or “final community.” The ultimate goal of nature, in other words, is nothing less than the most diverse, stable, well-balanced, self-perpetuating society that can be devised to meet the requirements of each habitat. Geographers like Grisebach and Merriam were describing with their “formations” and “life zones” the end products of millions of years of trial-and-error experimentation. And it was this idea of successional development toward a climax equilibrium that Warming made central to the new science of ecology. It was the major legacy of the aberrant geographers to the emerging profession.” -Donald Worster, Nature's Economy,
I notice Worster becoming very exited within this quote. He states passionately the origins of a very vital part of ecology. Succession presents an amazingly important concept. Focusing on a phenomenon that manifests it’s self in many of the issues that arise within the natural world. This especially, as humans further to effect and change the natural balance of earths ecosystems.
One element displaced, added or changed can severely affect a habitats way of functioning. A often enforceable chain of events can be started by something as small as a discarded tire or as big as the rereleasing of the Woolly Mammoth into the wild. The “formations” and “life zones” are balanced but there balance naturally goes into contortions as new aliments, natural or not, are imposed.
Worster is explaining Warmings theory, and he also tying in the theory’s of Grisebach and Merriam into something he seems to truly believe in. In this paragraph what’s being stated becomes so important to ecology, especially as we look at how we as humans continue to change the world in increasingly dramatic directions. Global warming is only one of the many changes that we have in part created. So succession is a concept that is very important to the modern ecologist as they study nature.