Disturbance: the process and the response. An epilogue

One gap in our understanding of disturbances became evident during this symposium and in the discussions before and after: How did the disturbances work and how exactly did they affect plants? In this epilogue I consider why the traditional study of succession by describing developmental sequences has led to such a slow formulation of the coupling of disturbance processes to ecological responses. A conceptual framework is also suggested for the coupling of process and response.