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Chapter 5.4 Notes Ecological Change

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13 views19 pages

Chapter 5.4 Notes Ecological Change

Uploaded by

Bright Ambrose
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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5.

4: Ecological Succession
1) Series of one or more predictable
changes that occur in a community
over time
2) Over the course of succession, the
number and type of species
changes.
Succession (Teachers Pet) Video
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuMUPYA3ao4
• Two forms: primary and secondary
• Key terms: pioneer species
climax community
Primary Succession
• Begins in areas with no remnants of an
older community.
• First species to live in an area of primary
succession are called pioneer species.
Changes in
Primary Succession
Communities

• series of
changes that
occur in an area
where no soil or
organisms exist
Primary Succession
1. Pioneer species, such as lichens, are the
first to colonize.
2. The environment changes as
• soil forms
• new species immigrate
• new habitats are established
Secondary Succession
1. Occurs when a disturbance dramatically alters a
community
2. Soil remains in place
3. Common disturbances: wildfire, logging, and
farming
4. Occurs significantly faster than primary succession
Secondary Succession
• series of changes that occur in an area where
the ecosystem has been disturbed,
• soil and organisms still exist.
Changes in
Communities

Comparing and Contrasting

Factors in Primary Secondary


Succession Succession Succession
Volcanic eruption Fire
Possible cause

No soil or organisms Soil and organisms exist.


Type of area
exist.

No Yes
Existing ecosystem?
Climax Community
• “final” community of living things that will
populate an area
• stable climax community will change when
a natural or “human-caused” disturbance
occurs
Video: Amoeba Sisters/Ecological
Succession: Nature's Great Grit
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqEUzgVAF6g&list=PLw
L0Myd7Dk1F0iQPGrjehze3eDpco1eVz&index=45
oEcological succession is a slow
process.
oThe change from an open field of
goldenrods to a mature oak-hickory
forest can take over 100 years!
Ecological Disturbances
• undisturbed community is in
equilibrium: generally stable and
balanced
•most populations at
or around carrying
capacity
•disturbances to an
ecosystem can
throw a community
into disequilibrium Forest fire
Forest Fires
Many communities of
living things depend
on periodic fires for
survival.
replenish nutrients to soils by
rapidly decomposing debris
control parasites (such as
wood-boring beetles) by
destroying them directly or
reducing the numbers of their
host(s)
Fires are abiotic density-
independent limiting factors
Pine Forests
 Many have seeds or cones that require
fire for germination
 to remove competing plants in order to
make space for shade-intolerant plants.
 pitch, loblolly, long-leaf, short-leaf,
ponderosa, and lodgepole pine species
require fires to regenerate.
Trees that depend on
wildfires have a thick
bark that is fire
resistant.
 Many species of oaks
regenerate quickly after
forest fires.
 Many wildflowers, such as
fireweed, depend on fires as
well.
Invasive Species
• Nonnative organisms that spread widely
in a community
• A lack of limiting factors such as
predators, parasites, or competitors
enables their population to grow
unchecked.

Did You Know? Although the European


honeybee is invasive to North America, it
is beneficial because it pollinates our
agricultural crops.
Invasive Species
• Not all invasive species are harmful.

Did You Know? Although the European


honeybee is invasive to North America, it
is beneficial because it pollinates our
agricultural crops.

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