Study of Successions at Different Structural Levels: Case Study of Postfire Successions in the Forests of Sikhote-Alin

Based on the well-known provisions of the general theory of systems, some key issues of successional transformations at the biogeocenotic (ecosystem), phytocenotic, microcenotic, and population structural levels are considered in a case study of postfire successions in broadleaf Korean pine and dark coniferous Korean pine forests of Sikhote-Alin. In research at a biogeocenotic level, indicative methods are used based on an analysis of gradients of leading environmental factors by groups of indicator species, blocks of diagnostic species according to the Braun-Blanquet ecological and floristic approach, and regional ecological scales. Most attention at the phytocenotic level of the study of successions is paid to the issues of spatial structure, as well as species and cenotypic composition of communities. Studies at a microcenotic level consider issues of transformation of the main elements of the mosaic of phytocenoses (synusiae and microcenoses) and their equivalents in biogeocenoses (parcels). Ontogenetic states and the age structure of cenopopulations are established at the population level, including insight into dynamics of viable seeds in the latent ontogenetic state in the forest floor and soil.