Chapter 19 Section 2

 Describe the process of succession

 Contrast primary and secondary succession

 Explain how mature communities develop

 Records were set in 2000 and 2002 for the
largest areas of the US burned by wildfires
in 50 years

 More than 4 million acres were burned in

2002 during a period of severe drought
 Like living things, ecosystems are born,
develop, and mature.

 Events can disrupt ecosystems and set off a

chain reaction of events called: succession

 Events:
◦ Fires, storms, volcanic eruptions…
 Succession: the gradual development of a
community over time

 Can take place in all communities not just

forests

 Ex: Forest fires in 1988 at Yellowstone

National Park
◦ http://www.yellowstone-bearman.com/yfire.html
 A small community starts to grow in an area
where no organisms had previously lived

 No soil in the area, only bare rock

 Organisms live and die on the rock and

eventually form soil

 Pioneer species: the first organisms to live

in an area
1. Retreating glacier exposes bare rock

2. Lichens help to start the formation of soil

3. After many years, soil and mosses grow and

insect being to live there

4. Soil deepens, mosses are replaced by ferns,

grasses , and wildflowers; shrubs and small trees
may grow

5. 100’s or 1000’s of years pass and the soil is deep

enough to support a forest
http://image.tutorvista.com/content/biotic-community/lithosere-trends-sucession.jpeg
 Sometimes an existing community is
destroyed by a natural disaster

 Causes: fire, flood, farmer stops farming an

area

 If the soil is left intact, the original

community can regrow
1. First year a farmer stops growing crops,
weeds start to grow (crab grass 1st)

2. Second year, new weeds appear (horseweed

is common)

3. In 5-15 years, small conifer trees grow among

the weeds, forest may form after ~100 years

4. As older conifers die, may be replaced by

hardwoods (oak, maple) if the climate is right
http://www.rpdp.net/sciencetips_v2/images/L12C2_4.gif
 All species in a new community are
vulnerable to disease, competition, and
disturbances

 Community becomes dominated by a well-

adapted, slow-growing climax species

 Over time more species become established

Variety of species in an area is called:
biodiversity
 A mature community: has organisms that
are well adapted to live together in the
same area over time

 Ex: plants of the Sonoran Desert in Arizona

http://www.deserttortoise.org/image/2006cat7bos.jpg
 Fire is a necessary part of the life cycle of
forest communities

 Prescribed burning (controversial)

 Fire can assist in the recycling of nutrients,

regulation of plant succession, help in
maintaining biological diversity, reducing
biomass, helping to control the insect
population…
 Describe the main difference between
primary and secondary succession

 Describe how pioneer species prepare an

area for other living things