1. SB4. Students will assess the dependence of all organisms on one another and the flow of energy and matter within their ecosystem.
c. Relate environmental conditions to successional changes in ecosystems.

2. LEQ4: How do ecosystems recover from environmental changes?

3. Ecological Succession
Ecological succession is a process of change in the species that make up a community.

4. Ecological Succession
Succession occurs following a disturbance in an ecosystem.
Succession regenerates or creates a community after a disturbance.
A sequence of biotic changes
Damaged communities are regenerated
New communities arise in previously uninhabited areas.

5. Ecological Succession
There are two types of succession:
Primary Succession
Secondary Succession

6. Ecological Succession
Primary Succession is the establishment and development of an ecosystem in an area that was previously uninhabited.
Started by pioneer species
First organisms to live in a previously uninhabited area.
Able to breakdown solid rock into smaller pieces.
Example: Lichens, mosses
Results in a climax community

7. Ecological Succession
Pioneer species
0-15 years:
Moss, lichens,
grasses
15-80 years:
Shrubs, cottonwoods,
Alder thicket
years:
Transition to mature
forest
years:
Climax community

8. Ecological Succession
Secondary Succession is the reestablishment of a damaged ecosystem in an area where the soil was left intact.
Plants and other organisms that remain start the process of re-growth.
Results in climax community
Never ends, ecosystems are continuously changing.

9. Ecological Succession
0-2 years:
Horseweed, crab, grass
2-18 years:
Shrubs, pine seedlings
18-70 yrs:
Forest and young hardwoods
yrs:
Climax community
Oak forest