ECOSYSTEM SUCCESSIONS. “These findings suggest that microbial ecosystems may routinely and rapidly undergo profound changes in community structure that, for multi-cellular eukaryotes, would be described as a major ecological succession. Among multi-cellular eukaryotes, however, a major ecosystem succession may take years, decades, or even centuries, whereas dynamic changes in microbial communities may well occur over hours or days.”
https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-016-0180-8