Definition
disclimax
noun
- a stable ecological community that results from human disturbance or environmental degradation rather than natural succession
Usage: ecology; technical
Examples
- Overgrazing by livestock can create a disclimax dominated by hardy shrubs instead of the native grassland.
- The disclimax vegetation in the abandoned quarry reflects decades of human mining activity.
- Ecologists study how a disclimax differs from the natural climax community that would develop without disturbance.
- Fire suppression in some forests has led to a disclimax of dense, unhealthy tree growth.
- The disclimax state of the wetland was caused by pollution and drainage from nearby agricultural land.