facilitation

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facilitation The process whereby a plant so modifies a habitat as to allow other species to invade (as in a succession). For example, the grass Elymus farctus facilitates the invasion of Ammophila arenaria (marram grass) in the early stages of sand-dune formation. If the invader is more efficient in the new circumstances, this may lead to the decline and eventual exclusion of the facilitating species.

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