is a dynamic mosaic, ever-changing at a small scale, yet remaining much the same at a
 larger scale of reference. This suggests that the existence of equilibrium is scale-
 dependent. Holling (1992) supports this claim by suggesting that "Ecosystem models can
 be legitimately criticized for presuming ever-increasing detail improves predication."

 The view of succession as primarily a species replacement process driven by
 reaction or plant controlled environmental modification has been rejected by many. It
 has been followed by several overlapping hypotheses that may all apply to varying
 degrees to any one successional sequence: succession as (1) a gradient in time or resource
 availability (Pickett 1976); (2) the consequence of differential longevity and other
 population processes (Egler 1954); (3) the result of differences in life history
 characteristics (Grime 1974); or (4) as a stochastic process. Common to all these
 hypotheses is a reductionist perspective emphasizing life histories and competitive
 interactions of the component species rather than emergent properties of communities.


 Systems Perspective of Succession

 The terms, succession and self-organization, are often used interchangeably.
 However, succession is purely a descriptive term and has, as yet, not provided a
 mechanism by which this process proceeds. Systems ecology provides the integrating
 principal of ecosystem development, the maximum power principle (Lotka 1922).

 System designs organize so as to bring in energy as fast as
 possible and use it most efficiently (Odum 1998).

 Ecosystem succession is the result of self-organization and the maximum power
 principle. Ecosystems respond to the surrounding environment; those responses
 contributing to the efficient use of resources are reinforced. During self-organization,
 systems are guided by the maximum power principle. Systems will continue to organize
 toward maximum power and efficiency unless disturbed by external forces (stochastic
 events) that reset the successional clock.


 Wetlands Succession

 The assumption can be made that the same processes influencing terrestrial
succession are at work in wetland systems. Clements' concept of succession holds that
within a region, the same final or climax stage results whether succession begins on solid
rock or in open water.

 A successional sequence beginning in open water, termed a hydrarch, will
progress through a sequence of stages termed hydrosere. The first stage of a hydrosere
includes establishment of submerged vegetation. A floating stage, reed-swamp stage,
sedge-meadow stage, and a woodland stage follow this stage. Clements suggests that the
vegetation occurring in each of these stages influences the system by producing shade