INTRO TO ENVIRO EXPO PART 4 - Loudoun County Public ...

[Pages:18]SUCCESSION IN ECOSYSTEMS

INTRO TO ENVIRO EXPO PART 4

DO YOU KNOW THESE WORDS???

To thrive, prosper, grow. To be accomplished - (a

Succeed ? success, to succeed at winning the game). To

follow or replace another (like in an election)

Pioneer ?

Thinking wild west ? they were the first people to settle in the west. The early settlers.

Climax of a story ?

The peak of a story, the main event. The conclusion.

Primary ? First

Secondary - Second

SUCCESSION - a series of changes in a community in which new populations of organisms

gradually replace existing ones



SUCCESSION -

Can take 100's ? 1,000's of years to occur

Each new community that arises makes it harder for the previous community to survive

PRIMARY SUCCESSION-

colonization of new sites by communities of organisms

occurs on a surface where no ecosystem existed before

(takes place on bare rock, cliffs, and sand dunes)

PRIMARY SUCCESSION-

New bare rock comes from 2 sources:

Volcanic lava flow cools & forms rock Glaciers retreat & expose rock

PIONEER ORGANISMS-

- first organisms to colonize a new site and begin the process of ecological succession.

ie: lichens are the first to colonize lava rocks .

Look for moss and lichens ? they will eventually break the rock down into soil, in which other plants could grow.

Lichens are a fungus and usually an algae (symbiotic relationship)

PRIMARY SUCCESSION -

Rock

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