succession
1.
2.
3.
4. a. The act or process of succeeding to the rights or duties of another. b. The act or process of becoming entitled as a legal beneficiary to the property of a deceased person.
5. Ecology. The gradual and orderly process of ecosystem development brought about by changes in community composition and the production of a climax characteristic of a particular geographic region.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin successiō, successiōn-, from successus past participle of succēdere, to succeed. See
succes