Ecosystem Succession Paper

University of Phoenix

Science 256: People, Science, and the Environment

Ecosystem Succession Paper

31Jan05

Ecosystem 2.

Succession

Succession is a phenomenon of transition in community bodily structure and function which is time related and frequently occurs in a somewhat predictable manner. Primary succession, (fig 5-4, pg 87) occurs following formation of a new, yet barren habitat for village. Such a habitat may be formed by vol dealic activity, arctic activity, or strip-mining; it initially lacks soil. A study of Glacier Bay, AL, showed that following go to bed of the glacier, the ground was first colonized by mosses and lichens, then command willows, then alders, then Sitka spruce. After about 200 years, a stable spruce-hemlock forest resulted.

Secondary succession, (fig 5-5, pg 88) occurs where an existing community is destroyed (i.e. by fire), but since the soil remains, recolonization is much more rapid than colonization during primary succession. Old field succession is a unattackable example of secondary succession (this is what happens to agricultural land afterwards farming stops). Once it was thought that succession normally resulted in a stable, diverse community in the climax suppose (this state is often described as the condition whereby the tissue in species interactions becomes so intricate that no additional species can fit into the community unless niches become available by localised extinction), but now this assumption is not so wide held among ecologists.

Succession is related to a number of factors including the following:

Initial colonizers are often characterized by good dispersal mechanisms. Frequently, they are fugitive species, ineffective to compete well in established communities but successful

Ecosystem 3.

in communities without competitors. Naturally, they must be tolerant of the abiotic factors existing in the area. Growth graze and size at maturity may also light upon success. Activities of the biota themselves may affect the process of succession. Inhibition...

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