Hydrarch

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Describing a sequence of plant colonization that starts in open water and gradually fills in a pond or lake
2. Relating to ecological succession that originates in an aquatic environment and moves toward dry land over time
3. Characterizing the gradual vegetation change that begins in standing water, such as a lake, and proceeds toward land

Etymology: "Hydrarch" is a technical term from plant ecology, and it was coined in modern scientific writing rather than in antiquity. It combines the Greek "hydōr," meaning water, with "-arch," from the Greek "archē," meaning beginning or origin. In ecology it describes a succession of plant communities that starts in wet or aquatic conditions, such as a pond gradually filling with vegetation until it becomes dry land. The opposite term, "xerarch," describes succession that begins in dry conditions, such as bare rock. The pairing shows how the same Greek element, "-arch," can mean a starting point in one scientific compound and a ruler in others, as in "monarch."