8.

The Process of
Colonization
and
Succession
 An introduction
• Ecosystem is defined as a self-suporting
system of organisms interacting with each
other and also with the non-living
organisms
Colonization and Succession

Human activities First species to

arrive
(e.g. : mining) and Barren land with at the new habitat
natural disasters non-living organisms is called the
(e.g. : earthquake) Pioneer
Species

Colonization

Succession

Climax community
 Colonization?
• The arrival of organisms to live, reproduce
and take over the new habitat
Phytoplanktons
Hydrilla sp.
Elodea sp.
 Submergent Plants
• These plants spend their entire lives
underwater. Bladderworts and horntails
are examples. Submergent plants provide
structure for aquatic insects to climb on
and food for animals, such as ducks and
snails.
 Submerged plants
• Submerged plants spend their entire life
cycle beneath the surface of the water.
Nearly all are rooted in the substrate.
Submerged plants take up dissolved
oxygen and carbon dioxide from the water
column.
 Succession?
• The process where the pioneer species
change the conditions of the habitat
making it more suitable for other species
to take over
Floating
plants
 Floating-leaved plants
• Floating-leaved plants have leaves that
float on the water’s surface while the roots
are anchored in the substrate. Stems
connect the leaves, which are circular or
oval and have a tough leathery texture, to
the bottom.
Emergent plants
Emergent plants
 Emergent
• Emergent wetland plants are rooted in soil
with basal portions that typically grow
beneath the surface of the water, but
whose leaves, stems (photosynthetic
parts), and reproductive organs are aerial.
Examples of emergent plants include
cattails and rushes.
 Floating Plants
• These plants float on the surface film of the
water. Some, the duckweeds, float freely, with
tiny roots dropping down into the water.
• Others, like lily pads, have wide leaves that float
on the surface and long stems that reach all the
way down to the pond bottom where roots lay in
the mud.
• Lilies grow in huge colonies and can sometimes
cover the entire surface of a pond. Floating
plants provide cover for fish and other
underwater creatures.
 Climax community?
• A stable and mature community which
undergoes little or no change in species
structure
 Shrubs and bushes?
• A shrub or bush is a horticultural rather
than strictly botanical category of
woody plant, distinguished from a tree by
its multiple stems and lower height,
usually less than 5-6 m (15-20 ft) tall.
Shrubs
Shrubs
Bushes
Pond succession
 Part II
Mangrove swamp
 mangrove swamp?

• –noun
– a coastal marine swamp of tropical or
subtropical regions that is dominated by
mangrove trees.
• Mangrove swamps are mostly found in the
tropical and subtropical region where fresh-water
meets salt water.
•
They have muddy soft soil and are a hostile
environment for normal plants. This is because
the soil has very low levels of oxygen and a
high concentration of salt.

• In addition, mangrove swamps are exposed to

high intensities of sunlight and strong winds.
 The green tunnel
of mangrove in
Sihcao, Tainan, Taiwan
The root systems of mangrove
plants
The root systems of mangrove
plants
 Pneumatophores?
• Specialised aerial roots that enable plants to breathe air
in habitats that have waterlogged soil.

• The roots may grow down from the stem, or up from

typical roots.

• Some botanists classify these as aerating roots rather

than aerial roots, if they come up from soil.

• The surface of these roots are covered with lenticels

which take up air into spongy tissue which in turn uses
osmotic pathways to spread oxygen throughout the plant
as needed.

•
Black mangrove is differentiated from other mangrove
species by its pneumatophores.
Above and below water
view at the edge of
the mangrovel
Pneumatophore penetrates
the sand surrounding
the mangrove tree.
Mangroves have evolved
a special mechanism
to help their offspring
survive.
Salt crystals formed on
grey mangrove leaf
 A mangrove of the
genus Sonneratia,
showing abundant pneumatophores
Types of mangrove tress

Avicennia sp.
Sonneratia sp.
• The pioneer species of a mangrove
swamp are the Sonneratia sp. and
Avicennia sp.
• The presence of this species gradually changes
the physical environment of the habitat.The
extensive root systems of these plants trap and
collect sediments, including organic matter from
decaying plant parts.

• As time passes, the soil becomes more compact

and firm. This condition favours the growth of
Rhizophora sp. Gradually the Rhizophora sp.
replaces the pioneer species.
Rhizophora sp.
• The prop root system of the Rhizophora sp.
traps silt and mud, creating a firmer soil structure
over time.

• The ground becomes higher. As a result, the soil

is drier because it is less submerged by sea
water.

• The condition now becomes more suitable for

the Bruguiera sp., which replaces the
Rhizophora sp.
Bruguiera sp.
• The buttress root system of the Bruguiera sp.
forms loops which extend from the soil to trap
more silt and mud.

• As more sediments are deposited, the shore

extends further to the sea. The old shore is now
further away from the sea and is like terresterial
ground.

• Over time, terrestrial plants like nipah palm and

Pandanus sp. begin to replace the Bruguiera sp.
---------Water------- Avicennia sp. Rhizophora sp. Bruguiera sp.
------------------------
Sonneratia sp.
---------Water------- Avicennia sp. Rhizophora sp. Bruguiera sp.
------------------------
Sonneratia sp.
 Buttress roots

Prop roots

Pneumatophore

---------Water------- Avicennia sp. Rhizophora sp. Bruguiera sp.

------------------------
Sonneratia sp.