Chronosequence

A chronosequence (in forest sciences) is a set of forested sites that share similar attributes but are of different ages. Since many processes in forest ecology take a long time (decades or centuries) to develop, chronosequence methods are used to represent and study the time-dependent development of a forest. Field data from a chronosequence can be collected in a short period of several months. For example, chronosequences are often used to study the changes in plant communities during succession.