There are many active volcanoes that affect plant community development worldwide, in particular the Pacific Ring of Fire. A number of studies have attempted to clarify the machanisms of primary succession in the early stages of volcanic succession. Here I summarize the findings of this research, focusing on : 1) plant sources including survivors, 2) safe sites for seedling emergence and establishment, 3) abiotic factors and tolerance, 4) biotic interactions (plant-animal, plant-plant, and plant-fungi/microorganism relationships), 5) stochastic event and chance, and 6) climatic effects. Alien plants often invade the denuded areas. The importance of the above mechanisms is strongly related to the scale, frequency and type of eruption(s), and thus the plant community dynamics differ greatly among volcanoes. I recommended that studies based on permanent plots and pre-eruption surveys should be promoted to obtain direct data related to the dynamics.
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