Successions are described by the type of substrate that is initially colonised. Successions that start with a substrate that has no existing community living on are called primary successions.

A succession starting with open sand is a psammosere.

A succession starting with bare rock is a lithosere.

A halosere starts with open salt water e.g. the succession that may lead to a saltmarsh at the edge of an estuary.

A hydrosere develops from open freshwater e.g. in a pond.

However, people spend a lot of time and money deflecting successions or halting them. This is called agriculture and a large area of land in the UK is really a false climax caused by this activity.

If this managed ecosystem is left undisturbed for a few years, it will develop as a succession until it reaches the climatic climax. This is called secondary succession.