Succession

No soil or soil cannot sustain life

Caused by disturbances such as lava flows, re-treating glacier, oil spills, land slides

Barren rock is covered by moss

Pioneer species such as lichens and mosses form on rocks

Lichen can break rock down and mosses decompose; helping create soil

Grasses begin to grow

Small shrubs and small organisms start t come in

Larger trees and different types of organisms come in, when there is more diversity and the ecosystem is back in equilibrium it is a climax community

Soil is present

Forest Fire

Flood

Deforestation

Primary usually takes longer than secondary

It can take a year for pioneer or annual plants to come in

3-4 years for shrubs and bushes to come in

5-150 years for small trees

and 150 or more years for large trees and for the community to be in equilibrium which is a climax community

They help break down matter and play a role in soil formation

Help bring back nutrients into the soil

promote Nitrogen fixation and other cycles such as...

Nitrogen Cycle- nitrogen is converted into multiple forms. Then nitrogen circulates around the soil, atmosphere, and ecosystem, micro-organisms play a role in this! They fix nitrogen into a form that is useful for plants

Carbon Cycle- carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged 

Sulfur Cycle- moves between rocks, waterways and living systems

Image from BioNinja

Image from Britannica

Video from Amoeba Sisters (Youtube)