​Primary Succession

• ​Takes a long time to reach a climax community. Hundred or thousands of years.

• ​Moss and Lichen are pioneer species

• ​Lichen secrete acids and produce enzymes that can break down the rock to form soil.

• ​Lichen and Moss inhabit the area via spore dispersal

  • ​Plant spores can travel via wind, water, etc

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​Primary Succession Examples

For it to be primary succession there must be no soil present.

• ​severe land slides

• ​recently exposed land forms due retreating glaciers

• ​volcanic eruptions

• ​nuclear explosions

• ​flooding with soil erosion

​Secondary Succession

• ​Begins with a disturbed area of land which has soil and minor plant life.

• Takes 50-150 years to reach the climax community.

• faster than primary succession ​

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​Secondary Succession Examples

• ​Wildfire

• ​flooding

• ​wind storms

• ​human activities-logging of forests

​Aquatic Succession

​pond/water-to-land form

1. ​open pond/body of water

2. ​algae/plants begin to cover the surface, some sediment is deposited

3. ​Pond becomes completely filled with sediment, more vegetation grows over the original site.

​Due to this change the ecosystems now support different life types. What once supported fish and other aquatic organisms must now support land organisms. Aquatic organisms die because they no longer have a home.

​Climax Community

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​These communities have reached the final stage of succession and are fully grown. They can support an advanced level of life forms.

​Invasive Species

• An invasive species has the ability to thrive and spread aggressively outside of their natural range.

• ​Invasive species are animals or plants from another region of the world that don’t belong in their new environment.

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​Invasive: invade, intrude, intrusive, aggressive, uncontrollable

​Examples of Invasive Species

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