Learning Targets:

Succession Succession - the changes that take place in a community as it gets older Primary and Secondary Pioneer Community - the first colonizers (to settle/establish a colony) Climax community - the last or final stage of succession – Little change in species due to stability Barren - unfruitful, unproductive land

Independent discovery of succession work time. Questions 19 & 20 are extra credit! Challenge yourself! Use book p for help when stuck. (Should only need it for questions 2b and 7. **Finish today - due tomorrow!

Does secondary succession come after primary succession? Not always. Only if that area is unstable or a disturbance (like a fire, flood, windstorm, etc.) affects the ecosystem. What is the difference between the two types of succession? The initial type of land. Primary succession occurs in an area with no signs of life, including no soil. This can be in areas where a lava flow occurred, or barren rock from a glacier. Secondary succession occurs in an area where life was disturbed, but the soil and possibly a few species still remain. This can be from events like a fire, flood, windstorm, or clear cutting a forest. Are pioneer communities needed in both primary and secondary succession? Not always. They are always a part of primary succession because the act of them decomposing is how the soil is created. In secondary succession soil already exists and if it has enough nutrients then this stage will be skipped and other low growing, fast producing plants, like grasses, will start to grow. Where do the initial plants in succession go? The initial plants have short life spans so they die after reproducing. They die and decompose and make the soil more nutrient rich so that it can support larger plant life, like trees. These species still exist, but are often in lower amounts due to competing with larger, taller plants for the sun. Do all ecosystems go through the same stages in succession? No. The changes will depend on factors such as the amount of moisture, the temperature, and the wind.