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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.
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 .
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.
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 ...
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
Some species have benefited from this fact, for example, the brown-headed cowbird, which is a brood parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of songbirds nesting in forest near the forest boundary. [12] Another example of a species benefiting from the proliferation of forest edge is poison ivy. [13]
Ecological facilitation or probiosis describes species interactions that benefit at least one of the participants and cause harm to neither. [1] Facilitations can be categorized as mutualisms, in which both species benefit, or commensalisms, in which one species benefits and the other is unaffected.
Biogeography (an amalgamation of biology and geography) is the comparative study of the geographic distribution of organisms and the corresponding evolution of their traits in space and time. [146] The Journal of Biogeography was established in 1974. [147] Biogeography and ecology share many of their disciplinary roots.