Summary1. The experimental removal of early successional species can explain how plant communities change over time. 2. During a 7.3-year period, early successional woody species, scrambling ferns and tree ferns were removed from a total of 10 landslides in the Luquillo Experimental Forest in north-eastern Puerto Rico. 3. Early successional woody plants in combination with tree ferns decreased species richness and cover of forbs and increased richness of late-successional woody plants compared to removals, facilitating long-term forest development. 4. Dense stands of scrambling ferns decreased both forb and woody plant richness compared to removals, inhibiting forest development. 5. Stands of monospecific tree ferns initially increased woody plant richness compared to removals, but overall decreased woody plant richness and cover, inhibiting forest development. 6. Synthesis. Early successional species both facilitate and inhibit succession on tropical landslides, but detailed predictions of successional trajectories remain elusive and are influenced by stochastic processes including arrival order, the life-form of colonizing species and their competitive interactions.

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