Ecological succession is driven by plant-environment feedback loops, which shape changes in plant communities following disturbances. These feedbacks involve interactions between plant species and their environment, influencing species availability, performance, and community composition. While succession is often seen as a directional process, variability arises from stochastic processes, extrinsic factors, and differences in species' environmental impacts. The study proposes a conceptual framework that integrates seven general causes of succession: landscape context, disturbance and land use, biotic and abiotic factors, species availability, species performance, and the plant community. These factors interact in feedback loops, driving succession and creating variability in successional trajectories. The framework helps identify causal pathways and models of succession, guiding research and field studies. It emphasizes the importance of integrating long-term studies with controlled experiments and dynamic modeling to understand the complex interactions among alternative causal pathways. The framework also highlights the role of priority effects, where early colonizers influence later species through environmental changes. The study underscores the need for a unified conceptual model that accounts for both predictability and variability in succession, moving beyond existing models to better understand ecological processes.Ecological succession is driven by plant-environment feedback loops, which shape changes in plant communities following disturbances. These feedbacks involve interactions between plant species and their environment, influencing species availability, performance, and community composition. While succession is often seen as a directional process, variability arises from stochastic processes, extrinsic factors, and differences in species' environmental impacts. The study proposes a conceptual framework that integrates seven general causes of succession: landscape context, disturbance and land use, biotic and abiotic factors, species availability, species performance, and the plant community. These factors interact in feedback loops, driving succession and creating variability in successional trajectories. The framework helps identify causal pathways and models of succession, guiding research and field studies. It emphasizes the importance of integrating long-term studies with controlled experiments and dynamic modeling to understand the complex interactions among alternative causal pathways. The framework also highlights the role of priority effects, where early colonizers influence later species through environmental changes. The study underscores the need for a unified conceptual model that accounts for both predictability and variability in succession, moving beyond existing models to better understand ecological processes.