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Surtsey, a volcanic island off the southern coast of Iceland, is an important example of a place where primary succession has been observed. [2] [3] On the other hand, secondary succession happens after disturbance of a community, such as from a fire, severe windthrow, or logging. Succession was among the first theories advanced in ecology.
One example of primary succession takes place after a volcano has erupted. The lava flows into the ocean and hardens into new land. The resulting barren land is first colonized by pioneer organisms, like algae, which pave the way for later, less hardy plants, such as hardwood trees, by facilitating pedogenesis, especially through the biotic acceleration of weathering and the addition of ...
For example, we can examine succession in the Loess Plateau in China. In the graph on page 995 of the paper "Plant Traits and Soil Chemical Variables During a Secondary Vegetation Succession in Abandoned Fields on the Loess Plateau" by Wang (2002), we can see the initial dominance of the Artemisia scoparia, the pioneer species.
The remainder is consumed by animals while still alive and enters the plant-based trophic system. After plants and animals die, the organic matter contained in them enters the detritus-based trophic system. [15] Ecosystem respiration is the sum of respiration by all living organisms (plants, animals, and decomposers) in the ecosystem. [16]
The concept of ecologic succession also applies to underwater habitats. If a space becomes newly available in a reef surrounding, haplosclerid and calcareous sponges are the first animals to initially occur in this environment in greater numbers than other species. These types of sponges grow faster and have a shorter life-span than the species ...
Cyclic succession is a pattern of vegetation change in which in a small number of species tend to replace each other over time in the absence of large-scale disturbance. Observations of cyclic replacement have provided evidence against traditional Clementsian views of an end-state climax community with stable species compositions .
White spruce (Picea glauca) is an example of a climax species in the northern forests of North America due to its ability to adapt to resource scarce, stable conditions, it dominates Northern forest ecosystem in the absence of a disturbance. [10] Other examples of climax species in old-growth forests: Canadian hemlock; Pacific silver fir; White fir
In ecology, allogenic succession is succession driven by the abiotic components of an ecosystem. [1] In contrast, autogenic succession is driven by the biotic components of the ecosystem. [1] An allogenic succession can be initiated in a number of ways which can include: Volcanic eruptions; Meteor or comet strike; Flooding; Drought; Earthquakes