What is Succession?
When looking at an environment over a period of time, ecological succession is seen as a disruption within the environment that removes the already existing species that is followed by a very slow, gradual appearance of different species within the same geographic area that was disrupted. The appearing species are often not the same species that were present before the disruption. It is referred to as succession because the newer species in the environment succeed the older species in chronological order. (28) (22)
Primary Succession
Primary succession is a specific type of succession that occurs in an area that is lifeless at the beginning and has no soil for plant life that can support animal life. Our park has several rocky areas that are like this near the coastal area of the rainforest. Over time, these rocks will slowly erode and eventually become soil. As this soil slowly grows in quantity smaller plants from the rainforest, which are already used to growing in the shallow rainforest soil, will be able to move into the area undergoing succession. These small plants would likely be small bushes or shrubs such as heliconia plants and other simple plants. As the amount of plants increases, the area will become able to support primary consumers which can in turn support higher level consumers. As the area becomes able to support more and more organisms, succession continues. More amounts of soil are created and larger plants such as ceiba trees can begin to grow in the area, slowly increasing the biodiversity of the area. This process is very long-term and can take hundred to thousands of years. (28) (3)
Secondary Succession In our park, there is a high potential for secondary succession to occur. Succession succession is seen as succession in an area where a preexisting community of organisms was removed by a disturbance but the area still has intact soil. One cause of secondary succession in our ecosystem is a forest fire that could break out in our forest. This forest fire would likely completely raze the existing community in the area, but the fire would not be able to eradicate the soil on the ground. In this secondary succession, the area may be able to return very similar to how it was originally. Relatively quickly, smaller plants, one again such as heliconia, will be able to move into the disturbed area from nearby land and settle. As time passes, the area will grow and recover even more and larger plants like cow trees and strangler figs will be able to start growing again. This resettlement would be able to occur because, as the area heals and recovers, it becomes able to support more, larger organisms due to the already present smaller organisms.
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