A single-species ruderal community of Dittricia viscosa on the railway-side gravel, next to the Petah Tikva-Sgula railway station, Israel. Compare to the mixed-species ruderal community in the image below.

A ruderal species is a plant species that is first to colonise disturbed lands. The disturbance may be natural (e.g., wildfires or avalanches), or man-made - constructional (e.g., road construction, building construction or mining), or agricultural (e.g., abandoned farming fields or abandoned irrigation ditches). A railway yard in Portland, Oregon. ... Gravel being unloaded from a barge Gravel is rock that is of a certain grain size range. ... The Coat of Arms of Petah-Tikva Petah-Tikva (Hebrew פֶּתַח-תִּקְוָה opening of hope, Standard Hebrew Pétaḥ-Tiqva, also transliterated as Petach Tikva, Petah Tikvah, Petach Tikvah, Petaḥ Tiqwa or Petach Tiqwa) and nicknamed as Mother of Cities, is a city in the west of the Center District of Israel... Divisions Green algae Chlorophyta Charophyta Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta - rhyniophytes †Zosterophyllophyta - zosterophylls Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses †Trimerophytophyta - trimerophytes Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ... {{alternateuses}} The Old Fire burning in the San Bernardino Mountains (image taken from the International Space Station) A wildfire, also known as a forest fire, vegetation fire, grass fire, brush fire, peat fire (gambut in Indonesia), bushfire (in Australasia), or hill fire, is an uncontrolled fire often occurring in wildland... Landslide of soil and regolith in Pakistan A landslide is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows. ... This page is related to transport; you may be looking for the 2002 Bollywood movie Road. ... Construction on the North Bytown Bridge in Ottawa, Canada. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... High-altitude aerial view of irrigation in the Heart of the Sahara ( ) Irrigation is the replacement or supplementation of rainfall with water from another source in order to grow crops or plants. ...

Ruderal species typically dominate the disturbed area for a few years, gradually losing the competition to other native species. However, in extreme disturbance circumstances, such as when the natural topsoil is covered with a foreign substance, a single-species ruderal community may become permanently established, as depicted in the image on the right. In addition, some ruderal invasive species may have such a competitive advantage over the natural species that they, too, may permanently prevent a disturbed area from returning to its original state despite natural topsoil. Competition is the act of striving against another force for the purpose of achieving dominance or attaining a reward or goal, or out of a biological imperative such as survival. ... Topsoil is the uppermost layer of soil, usually the top six to eight inches. ... Lantana Invasion of abandoned citrus plantation; Moshav Sdey Hemed, Israel; May 2, 2006 The term invasive species refers to a subset of those species defined as introduced species or non-indigenous species. ...

Features

Features contributing to a species success as ruderal are:

• Massive seed production
• Modest seedling nutritional requirements
• Fast-growing roots
• Independence of mycorrhizae

Sunflower seedlings, just three days after germination Germination is the process where growth emerges from a resting stage. ... Plant nutrition is the study of the chemical elements that are necessary for plant growth. ... A mycorrhiza (typically seen in the plural form mycorrhizae meaning fungus roots) is a distinct type of root symbiosis in which individual hyphae extending from the mycelium of a fungus colonize the roots of a host plant. ...

See also

A mixed-species ruderal community on the side of road 40, north of the Yarqon River, Israel, where the natural topsoil was left after the road-building disturbance.

• Edge effect
• Restoration ecology
• Example ruderal species:
  • Conyza bonariensis (family Asteraceae)
  • Dittrichia viscosa (Asteraceae)
  • Nicotiana glauca (Solanaceae)

The Yarqon River (Hebrew: נחל הירקון) is the largest coastal river in Israel, at 27. ... Topsoil is the uppermost layer of soil, usually the top six to eight inches. ... A road ascends a mountainside using hairpin bends in the French Alps. ... An edge effect is the effect of the juxtaposition of contrasting environments on an ecosystem. ... Restoration ecology is the study of returning degraded ecosystems and landscapes to a reference state where ecological communities and processes are re-established. ... Binomial name Conyza bonariensis Species Conyza bonariensis Horseweed, also known as Marestail, are plants in the genus Conyza and Equisetum. These are some of the oldest known plants alive today, having been growing for many millions of years. ... Diversity About 900 genera and 13,000 species Type Genus Aster L. Subfamilies Barnadesioideae Cichorioideae Tribe Arctotidae Tribe Cardueae Tribe Eremothamneae Tribe Lactuceae Tribe Liabeae Tribe Mutisieae Tribe Tarchonantheae Tribe Vernonieae Asteroideae Tribe Anthemideae Tribe Astereae Tribe Calenduleae Tribe Eupatorieae Tribe Gnaphalieae Tribe Helenieae Tribe Heliantheae Tribe Inuleae Tribe Plucheae... Diversity About 900 genera and 13,000 species Type Genus Aster L. Subfamilies Barnadesioideae Cichorioideae Tribe Arctotidae Tribe Cardueae Tribe Eremothamneae Tribe Lactuceae Tribe Liabeae Tribe Mutisieae Tribe Tarchonantheae Tribe Vernonieae Asteroideae Tribe Anthemideae Tribe Astereae Tribe Calenduleae Tribe Eupatorieae Tribe Gnaphalieae Tribe Helenieae Tribe Heliantheae Tribe Inuleae Tribe Plucheae... Nicotiana glauca(See picture)is sometimes referred to as Brazillian Tree Tobacco. Its leaves are attached to the stalk by stems, and its texture is neither furry nor sticky like Nicotiana tabacum. ... Genera Acnistus Atropa (deadly nightshade) Brugmansia (angels trumpet) Calibrachoa Capsicum (chile peppers) Cestrum Chamaesaracha Combera Crenidium Cuatresia Cyphanthera Cyphomandra Datura (jimsonweed) Hyoscyamus (henbane) Iochroma Lycium (boxthorn) Mandragora (mandrake) Nicandra Nicotiana (tobacco) Nolana Petunia Physalis (tomatillo) Scopolia Solandra Solanum (tomato, potato, eggplant) Streptosolen Wikispecies has information related to: Solanaceae The...

References and external links

• "Ruderal Community" on the California Polytechnic State University web site
• St. John TV. 1987. SOIL DISTURBANCE AND THE MINERAL NUTRITION OF NATIVE PIANTS in Proceedings of the 2nd Native Plant Revegetation Symposium
• Chapin. FS. III. 1980. The mineral nutrition of wild plants. Ann. Rev. Ecol. System, 11:233-260.
• Ruderal in the 1911 Britannica