Question

Primary succession and secondary succession

Answer 1

Answer:

Explanation:

Ecosystems are not static things. Wetlands and grasslands, patches of forests, and even whole landscapes (which may contain several ecosystems) constantly evolve in response to changing temperatures, moisture levels, light availability, rates of nutrient inflow and outflow, and activities of plants, animals, and other forms of life.

Ecological succession is the process by which the structure of a biological community changes over time. In most ecosystems, if succession is allowed to continue without a major disturbance (such as a flood or a wildfire), the ecosystem structure will be composed of a mix of plants and animals that maximizes the “goods” (such as moisture and nutrients) the environment can provide. When the biological community in a given environment becomes relatively stable, ecologists call that assemblage of living things a climax community.

Primary succession is the process in which plants and animals first colonize a barren habitat. On a newly created volcanic island, for example, after the rock cools, seeds blown by the wind may lodge in crevices. There they can germinate and take root. Often these first colonizing plants are weedy species, such as fast-growing grasses, that do not grow tall but do reproduce quickly. After these plants germinate and grow, they die and decompose, and their remains create pockets of soil from which other plants as well as fungi can grow. Over time, as vegetation covers more and more of the island, seeds from other plants arrive (possibly transported by birds that begin to use the island as a stopover during migration). As the plant community develops, hardier, taller-growing species begin to shade out the first colonizers and eventually dominate. More plants and animals arrive (the latter rafting over on flotsam or flying from nearby islands or the mainland), and the ecosystem changes with each new arrival. Over several decades, as populations of different species become established, the ecosystem’s structure becomes more stable.

Secondary succession differs from primary succession in that it begins after a major disturbance—such as a devastating flood, wildfire, landslide, lava flow, or human activity (farming, road or building construction, or the like)—wipes away part of a landscape. The stages of secondary succession are similar to those of primary succession: insects and weedy plants (frequently from surrounding ecosystems) are often the first to recolonize the disturbed area, and these species are replaced by hardier plants and animals as time goes on. If this landscape remains undisturbed for a long enough time, the evolving biological community can once again attain a stable ecological structure.

Although wildfires and other disturbances can certainly bring ruin to a landscape, the soil often retains a bank of seeds that can sprout shortly after the effects of the disturbance pass, so ecosystems within the landscape can recover through secondary succession. Sometimes, however, catastrophic disturbances, such as massive volcanic eruptions or advancing glaciers, effectively eliminate all of the biological activity in a landscape. In these cases, any seeds that survive the disturbance are covered with large amounts of ash, rock, or ice, which isolates them from the landscape’s future development. Consequently, the landscape can return to life only though primary succession.