CHANGE

Change happens all the time. Some examples of change are: volcanoes, climate change, forest fire, flood, mudslides, glacier melting

What is change? Due to interactions, all plants, animals and their environment are in the process of becoming something else.

Change can involve one or more types of species as they may be replaced by another type of species.

Succession - is a series of changes in a land or aquatic community over time. The community changes over time. The community changes over time. There are two types of succession. There are two types of succession.

 I. Primary succession occurs where organisms have not grown before. It starts where there is no soil.  Examples: bare rock, new islands from volcanoes, tar/cement, buildings, melting of a glacier

 II. Secondary succession occurs when organisms grow after a major change. It starts when there is already soil.  Examples: forest fire, cut forest, flood damage, return of abandoned farmland to nature, heavily polluted streams, or where a natural community has been removed or destroyed.

Bare land  Plant matter absent

Annual Weeds lichens, moss, dandelions

Perennial Weeds and Grasses herbs, goldenrod

Shrubs – blueberry, willows

Young Pine or Sun-loving Trees- white birch, red maple, aspen

Climax Community or Shade Tolerant Trees or Mature Oak-Hickory Forest mixed hardwoods (deciduous), oaks, hickory, beech, sugar maple, ferns

 Climax Community is the last and final stage of succession. This community stage is very stable and diverse thereby it is able to resist change. Diversity leads to the overall endurance and many complex interrelationships within the community

Aquatic Succession

Succession as a lake turns into a bog and then into a forest. A floating mat of vegetation extends progressively out from the shore, eventually covering the open water. After thousands of years, the former lake will be covered with a forest

 Which Pond is in the earliest stage of aquatic succession and how do you know?  Which Pond is the latest stage of successionand how do you know?

River Continuum