How Ecosystems Change
TO
A LAKE A FOREST
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
Ecosystems change over time
• Succession: the gradual change in an ecosystem in
which one biological community is replaced by
another.
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e358/urbanscout/succession-subsistence-1.jpg
WHAT IS ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION?
• The slow development or
replacement of an
ecological community by
another ecological
community over time
• A gradual change in
ecosystems that can take
thousands of years.
An example of
succession is a herd
of deer kill trees by
eating too many
leaves. The deer no
longer have food so
many leave or die.
Ecological Succession Key Terms
• Pioneer species – the 1st organism
to colonize any newly available
area and begin succession. The
pioneer species will make the
new area habitable over time.
They grow on rock and help form
soil in which plants can grow.
• (Ex: moss, weeds, bacteria,
fungi).
Ecological Succession Key Terms
• Pioneer community – the group of different
organisms that first inhabit an area
• Climax community – final, stable community that
will remain the same through time if not disturbed.
(Ex: mature hardwood trees)
PRIMARY SUCCESSION
• Succession that occurs on a surface where no ecosystem
existed before
• A community may start growing in an area that has no soil.
This process is called primary succession.
Primary Succession
It starts with a bare rock and grows lichens. Lichens
are an organism that grow without soil. As the
lichens grow, they break down the rocks which turns
into soil. Now that there is soil, plants can grow.
Primary Succession
• Where?
• Places without soil
• Rocks
• New islands created by volcanic
eruptions
• Areas exposed when glaciers
retreat
• Other surfaces that had not
previously supported life (parking
lot)
Primary Succession
• Pioneer species?
• Lichen or bacteria on a rock
(eventually they will break down
the rock to make soil).
• Mosses, lichens, and weeds in
pavement cracks or an uncared
for roof.
What are the two types of ecological succession?
• Identify each step of primary succession.
Secondary Succession
• Succession that occurs on a surface where an ecosystem has
previously existed.
• It often occurs after a fire or volcano. Secondary succession takes
place much more quickly than primary succession. After a forest
fire (for example) some roots and seed survive underground and
begin to grow again.
Secondary Succession
• Succession happens to areas that have been disturbed
but that still have soil. An existing ecosystem may be
damaged by a natural disaster, or farmland may be
cleared but left unmanaged. If soil is left intact, the
original community may regrow through a series of
stages called secondary succession.
Secondary Succession
• Where?
• Ecosystems disturbed by humans
and animals
• Ecosystems destroyed by storms,
floods, fires, earthquakes, and Immediately after Mt. St.
volcanic eruptions. Helen eruption
• Ex: Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980,
burning and flattening more than
44,460 acres of forest. Over time,
plants that began to grow over the
volcanic debris. 12 years after the eruption
Immediately after During eruption
eruption
MT. PINATUBO
Before eruption Immediately after
eruption
MT. ST. HELENS
During eruption
BEFORE BEFORE
MT. PINATUBO MT. ST. HELENS
AFTER AFTER
Secondary Succession
• Pioneer Species?
• Annual plants and flowers
• Grasses and weeds
Secondary Succession
• Old-Field Succession – occurs when farmland is
abandoned.
• Abandoned land changes into grassland, then shrubs,
then young trees, then mature trees.
http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=95198&rendTypeId=36
What are the two types of ecological succession?
• What are the features of each stage of secondary
succession shown here?
Think – Pair - Share
1. Imagine that on your graduation day the school
is bulldozed and a tall fence is placed around the
bare school grounds.
• What would the school grounds look like after:
• 1 month?
• 1 year?
• 5 years?
• 100 years?
Think – Pair - Share
2. How does the pioneer species lichen help to
make primary succession possible?
Think – Pair - Share
3. Over a period of 1000 years, a lake becomes a
maple forest. Is this process primary or secondary
succession? Explain.
