The document discusses the concept of climax communities, which are stable and self-maintaining ecosystems established after a succession process, originally described by Clements in 1936. It outlines characteristics, such as species diversity and equilibrium, and categorizes climax types into climatic, edaphic, disclimax, preclimax, postclimax, subclimax, and catastrophic climax. The references provided include links to external sources and academic works related to the topic.

1. 22-ARID-2413
Submitted by Maria Afzal
Submitted to Ma’am Khafsa
Concept of climax
Types of Climax
PMAS-AAUR

2. OUT LINE
• Concept of climax
• Climax community
• Characteristics of climax
• Types of Climax
• References

3. CONCEPT OF CLIMAX

4. WHAT IS CLIMAX COMMUNITY?
Climax:
The terminal stabilized system or community is known as
Climax.
Climax Community:
When the final terminal community becomes stabilized for a
longer period of time and it can maintain itself in equilibrium
with the climate of the area, it is known as climax community.

5. CLIMAX COMMUNITY

6. Climax Community
First time the term Climax was used by Clements in 1936.
This type of community remains the same through out the
time, if it is not disturbed.
A stable group of plants and animals which is the end result
of succession process, does not always mean only big trees.
They could be:
• Cacti in deserts or
• Grasses in fields

7. THESE ARE CLIMAX COMMUNITIES

8. STABILITY OF CLIMAX
• The climax community may change if there are changes in
climate or long-term evolutionary changes in one or more
species. Climax communities are said to be in a state of
equilibrium because organisms have already adapted to
their environment and succession is no longer taking place.
Therefore, it can be assumed that it is stable.

9. CHARACTERISTICS OF CLIMAX
COMMUNITY
Climax is a unit and takes on certain characteristics such as:
(a) The climax community is able to tolerate its own reaction.
(b) It tends to be mesic (medium moisture content) rather than xeric (dry) or hydric
(wet).
(c) Vegetation has high ecological amplitude.
(d)Possess high tolerance towards the environmental condition.
(e)Rich diversity in species composition.

10. CHARACTERISTICS CONTINUE……..
(f) Complex food chains.
(g) Species composition remains constant for many years.
(h) There will be an equilibrium between gross productivity and respiration.
(i) Energy intake and release are maintained in the community.
(j) The nutrient cycle is closed and in equilibrium.
(k) Individuals of the community lost by their death are replaced by individuals of the
same species.
(l) It is an index of the climate of the area. The life or growth form indicate the climate
type.

11. TYPES OF CLIMAX
• For a given region the climax maybe climatic climax or edaphic climax.
1) Climatic Climax:
• In this climax, the climax community of the succession is determined by the climate
of the region.
• The climatic climax will have only one climax community.

12. 2) Edaphic Climax:
• Here the climax community in the succession is determined by the soil(edaphic
factor)of the region.
• The edaphic factor may include soil moisture, topography, soil texture and soil
nutrients.

13. 3) Disclimax:
• When a stable community, which is not the climatic or an edaphic climax for the
given site, is maintained by man or his domestic animals. It is designated as
disclimax (disturbance climax) or Anthropogenic Subclimax (man generated).

14. 4) Preclimax and Postclimax, Subclimax:
• If the Community has life forms lower than those in the expected climatic climax
then it is called Preclimax.
• If the community has life forms higher than those in the expected climatic climax
then it is called Postclimax.
• The prolonged stage in succession just preceding the climatic climax is Subclimax.

15. 5) Catastrophic Climax:
• The climax vegetation vulnerable to catastrophe such as a wildlife.
• The wildfire removes the mature vegetation and decomposers. A rapid development
of herbaceous vegetation follows until the shrub dominance is re-established. This is
known as Catastrophic climax.

16. REFERENCES
• https://api.semanticscholar.org
• https://wikimili.com/en/Climax_species
• McShaffrey D. "Relationships Among Species". Marietta College. Archived from the
original on 16 June 2009.

17. THANKS