succession

noun

1. 1

   acquisition of property by descent or by will

2. 2

   the action of following in order

   he played the trumps in sequence

3. 3

   a following of one thing after another in time

   the doctor saw a sequence of patients

4. 4

   a group of people or things arranged or following in order

   a succession of stalls offering soft drinks

   a succession of failures

5. 5

   (ecology) the gradual and orderly process of change in an ecosystem brought about by the progressive replacement of one community by another until a stable climax is established