Chapter 19 Cycles in Nature

Section 2 Ecological Succession

What You Will Learn Describe the process of succession. Contrast primary and secondary succession. Explain how mature communities develop.

Succession is the gradual development of a new community. Ecosystems can be destroyed in many ways o Forest fires, o Hurricanes, tornadoes o Diseases o Pollution Slowly over time destroyed ecosystems regain life. This is succession Primary Succession Early succession where there is no life. Ecosystem has little to no soil. Rock gets turned into soil by pioneer species. A pioneer species is one of the first species to an ecosystem Secondary Succession Ecosystem destroyed by disaster. Soil and some of the ecosystem still in tact The original community of organisms comes back. Mature Communities and Biodiversity Early on in succession there are a few species Over time more and more species come to the ecosystem increasing biodiversity o Biodiversity is the variety of the organisms in an area. Section Summary
Ecological succession is the gradual development of communities over time. Often a series of stages is observed during succession. Primary succession occurs in an area that was not previously inhabited by living things; no soil is present. Secondary succession takes place in an area where an earlier community was disturbed by fire, landslides, floods, or plowing for crops and where soil is present.