Community change is classically split into endogenous autogenesis and exogenous allogenesis

Evidence

Early in the development of the field of ecology, two sorts of community change were recognized: autogenesis and allogenesis (see the discussion in White, 1979). In the former, change is driven by the biological properties of the system at hand, while in the latter an outside driving environmental “forcing” function is present. Factors responsible for change were divided into endogenous (within the communi­ ty) and exogenous (outside the community). Classically, natural disturbances were treated as exogenous. In other situations, during disturbance-free periods, succes­ sion was driven by endogenous factors and autogenesis occurred. — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 97

Categorization

• DEFINE: Vocabulary for endogenous autogenic change versus exogenous allogenic forcing — foundational for reading landscape change.