prevailing climax The most common undisturbed, stable community that occurs in a region. In any given area various stable communities are found in response to local differences in habitat. Gradual transitions from one stable type to another occur as environmental controls change. The steady-state community occupying the largest number of non-extreme habitats in the area is the prevailing climax. This approximates to the climatic climax communities for the area. Unlike monoclimax, prevailing climax does not involve consideration of possible long-term climatic changes, or associated habitat changes caused by weathering and erosion. Thus it is a more practicable and readily applied concept. See also climax theory.

prevailing climax The most common undisturbed, stable community that occurs in a region. In any given area various stable communities are found in response to local differences in habitat. Gradual transitions from one stable type to another occur as environmental controls change. The steady-state community occupying the largest number of non-extreme habitats in the area is the prevailing climax. This approximates to the climatic climax communities for the area. Unlike monoclimax, prevailing climax does not involve consideration of possible long-term climatic changes, or associated habitat changes resulting from weathering and erosion. Thus, it is a more practicable and readily applied concept. See also CLIMAX THEORY.