WHY DO WE NEED PERMANENT PLOTS IN THE STUDY OF LONG-TERM VEGETATION DYNAMICS

This paper presents a survey of vegetation studies on permanent plots, with an emphasis on the long-term character of these studies. It make s remarks on the external and internal causes of succession, pays atte ntion to the pathways of succession, links up permanent plots studies and chronosequences, discusses internal causes and mechanisms of succe ssion, and finally mentions the significance of long-term vegetation d ynamics for nature conservation.