SUCCESSION

Succession means when one thing is replaced by the

other and the process is continued till a final stage is
reached

The term succession was firstly used by HULT

Hewas the first to recognize that a relatively large

number of pioneer plant communities give way to a
comparatively small number of relatively stable
communities (climax community).
What is ecological succession?
Is the process of change in the species structure
of an ecological community over time.
The time scale can be decades or even millions
of years after a mass extinction due to some
disturbances.
Succession may be initiated some of the
disturbances such as from a LAVA FLOW or a
SEVERE LANDSLIDE, or by some form of
disturbances of a community ,such as from a
fire ,severe wind throw.
Glaciers: also create new sites.but
such are rare in indai.

VOLCANIC ACTION AND FIRE: THESE TWO

NATURAL CALASTROPHES DESTROY VEGETATION

AND CREATE BARE THAT BECOME AVAILABLE FOR
RECOLONIZATION OR SECONDARY SUCCESSION.
 Process of succession

For succession new sites are needed in india

such new sites are avaiable for colonization on :
ALLUVIAL deposits: these include deposits of
sand , gravel and slit by flowing and rivules.
New estuarine deposits: these are formed by
the deposits of sand and slit by estuaries that
extend inland from sea coast.
Sand dunes: these are huge deposits of sand that
occur along the sea shore , banks of rivers and
lakes and in the desert areas of the world.
Characterstics of ecological succession
There is a progressive increase in the total matter of
community.
There is tedency for increased nutrient conservation as
slow loss of nutrients.
Number of trophic levels increase .
Population of decomposer component becomes
significant.
Community become more heterogeneous
Community become more dibverse in terms of number of
species and their balance.
Simpe food chains will be replaced by complex food
chains.
Land slips :these sites are formed By good sites for succession because
the soil contains humus and mineral nutrients and water is also available.

Screes: these are found in cold

mountainous places and rarely form good
sites.
EROSION: bare areas are also produced
by erosion and such sites are abundantly
all over india for secondary succession.
STAGES OF SUCCESSION
AS SOON AS THE SUITABLE BARE SITE FOR SUCCESSION IS AVAILABLE
THE PROCESS INVOLVES THE FOLLOWING STAGES:

COLONIZATION:
 This process involves the invasion of bare area by the seeds (seed plants)and
spores(cryptogams)of plants growing in the neighboring communities or
from far off places through the agency of wind water and animals.
Colonization includes following steps .
 a. migration
 This is the arrival of reproductive bodies such as seeds , spores and
propagules of plants from other places.
 This is affected by wind ,water and animals.
 The nature of the bare area determines the type of plants that can grow there.
 e.g. the bare area is a pond the seeds of water plants can germinate .in case
the bare area is a desert the seeds of xerophtyes will germinate.
 So the condition of the bare area determines the type of initial vegetation it.
 b. Ecesis
o This process involves the establishment of the initial
plants on a bare area i.e. the germination of the
reproductive bodies and the growth of the plant to
maturity.
o This process is dependent upon the climatic ,edaphic
and biotic factors.
o The success of the plant depends upon some of the
adaptations to withstand the unfavouable conditions
which includes both biotic and abiotic conditions e.g.
doramancy.
 c. Aggregation
• It follows ecesis i.e. as the species become
established in an area,they flower ,fruit
and produce seeds.
• The seeds germinate and the members of
the species increase in number.
• This increase in number of the species is
called aggreagation.
 d. competition
This phenomena involves struggle for existence between
two or more individuals growing in an area that make
excessive demands,that are similsr in nature on the soil .
Such a struggle is usually between plants of the same
kind that have similar demands.
 e.g. between different types of lichens or between
trees,or shrubs or herbs,but never between a tree and a
lichen or a tree and a herb.
The competition may be interspecific or intraspecific.
As a result of competition the weak individuals are
eliminated and stronger ones are retained.
a. On aerial environment (above ground)

1. As trees grow tall and their foliage spreads and become. dense
which alter the light penetration which finally result in death of
heliophytes and development of sciophytes.
2. They increase the relative humidity by increased transpiration .
3. The vegetational cover affects the tempearture .
4. The trees also check the velocity of the wind.
 e. Reaction
• This includes the effect of plant growth on the habitat.
• The plants alter habitat conditions.
• e.g. they draw materials from the environment
inlarge amounts,and return metabolic wastes.
• These wates accumulate in large amounts and differ
from the original Raw materials,thus altering the
environments.
• The effect of plants on the environment was divided
into two:
a. on aerial environment (above ground).
b. On oil (below ground)
 b. on soil (below ground)
1. The roots of trees grow into rock crevices where CO2 released
mix with water and form carbonic acid that causes chemical
weathering.
2. The dead bodies of plant mix in water and increases organic
matter which changes the composition and structure of the soil.
3. The plants also affect the water content of the soil.
4. As the humus content increased in the soil that also increases
the soil microorganisms.
5. The plant also changes the reaction of the soil i.e. make it
acidic or alkaline.
6. The plants change the soil texture and its porosity and pore
volume.
7. Their roots bind the soil and check soil erosion.
 THERE ARE TWO MAIN TYPES OF ECOLOGICAL
SUCCESSION

 PRIMARY SUCCESSION: the process of

creating life in an area where no life
previously existed.
 Begins in a place without any soil:
 # slides of volcanoes
# landslides
# flooding
Grasses Large
Lichens and Large
and small shrubs and
mosses trees
shrubs small trees
Primary succession takes longer to occur than
secondary succession.
 Soil which is ready for plants to grow is does
not exist yet
 Plants are not able to grow well on bare rock ,
desert it , or on soil sterilized by extremely hot
fires.
 it thus takes years to centuries longer then for
primary succession to occur.
 Secondary succession occur faster because
the soil already exists and is ready for new
plant life.
SECONDARY SUCCESSION
 Secondary succesl community begins in habitats
where communities were entirely or partially
destroyed by some kind of damaging event.
 When an exisiting community has been cleared by
a disturbance such as a fire , tornado, etc ….and
the soil remains intact ,the area begins to return to
its natural community because these habitats
supported life , secondary succession ,unlike
primary succession , begins on substratre that
already bear soil. In addition , the soil contains a
native seed bank.
Examples of secondary succession
1988 – devastating forest fires at yellowstone
national park.
The yellow stone fires of 1988 was the largest wildfire
in the recorded history of yellow stone national park in
the united states.
Starting as many smaller individuals fires , the flames
quickly spread out of control with increasing winds and
drought and combined into one large fire .
Only the arrival of cool and moist weather in the late
autumn brought the fires to an end.
A total of 7 93,880 acres (3,213km2) of the park was
affected by the wildfires .
The climax community

 Any particular region has its own set of climax

species , which are the plants that are best adapted
for the area and will persist after succession has
finished , untill another disturbance clears the
area.
 A climax community is a mature , stable
community that is the final stage of ecological
succession in an ecosystem with a climax
community , the conditions continue to be
suitable foe all the members of the community.
WHY DOES ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
OCCUR?
BEACAUSE IT IS THE PROCESS OF LIFE FOR
PLANTS , SOIL AND OTHER LIVING
ORGANISMS.
BECAUSE ORGANISMS ALTER SOIL SOIL
STRUCTURE , CHEMISTRY , AND
MICROCLIMATES , THE SPECIES COMPOSITION
OF ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES CONSTANTLY
CHANGES OVER TIME.
SUCCESSION WILL CONTINUE UNTILL THE
ENVIRONMENT REACHES ITS FINSL STAGE
….THE CLIMAX COMMUNITY.
A SUMMARY OF CHANGES THAT OCCUR
DURING SUCCESSION:
 Pioneer species colonizes a bare or disturbuted site.soil
building.
 Changes in the physical environment occur (e.g. light,
moisture)
 New species of pants displace existing plants because their
seedlings are better able to become established in the changed
environment.
 Newly arriving species alter the physical conditions , often in
ways that enables other species to become established
• SURVIVAL
Eventually a climax community that is more or less stable will
become established and have the ability to reproduce itself.
• Disturbances will start the process of succession again.
HOW DOES HUMANS AFFECT ECOLOGICAL
SUCCESSION?
He garden and Clearing the land for the garden and preparing the soil
for planting represents a major external event that radically re-structure
and disrupts a previously stabilized ecosystem . The disturbed
ecosystem will immediately begin a process of ecological succession.
Plant species that adapt to the sunny conditions and the broken soil
will rapidly invade the site and will call become quickly and densely
established .these invading plants are what we call “weeds” in which
we consider nuisance or invaders.
A gardeners only course of action is to spend a great deal of time and
energy weeding the gardner or using chemicals to infringe upon the
weeds and the ecosystem around it.
The farmers and gardeners who are growing our foods incur an
immense cost in terms of time , fuel , herbicides and pesticides that
humans pay every growing season because of the force of ecological
succrssion.
DOES ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION EVER
STOP?
WE must recognize that any ecosystem ,no
matter how inherently stable and
persistent ,could be subject to massive
external disruptive(like fires and storms) that
could re-set and re-trigger the successional
process.
As long as these random and potentially
catastrophic events are possible , it is not
absolutely accurate to say that successsion
has stopped.
ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION NEVER ENDS

 Also over long periods of time (“geological

time”)the climate conditions and other
fundamental aspects of an ecosystem change.
 These geological time scale changes are not
observable in our “ecological time”, but their
fundamental existence and historical reality
cannot be disputed.
 No ecosystem , then , has existed or will exist
unchanged or unchanging over a geological
time scale.
FACTORS AFFECTING ECOLOGICAL
SUCCESSION
Itincludes both biotic and abiotic factors.
ABIOTIC FACTORS:
TOPOGRAPHY: Landslides and mudslides are example of this type
of factor because they cause a massive reformation of the landscape.
SOIL: Soil type , ph and moisture affect plant that are going to arise
in that area.
CLIMATE: rainfall and temperature ,wind play major role in
ecological succession.
BIOTIC FACTORS :
Species interaction and competition:
Pioneer species
As diversity increases competition increases dominant species only
sustain remaining species will die.
PRIMARY SUCCESSION SECONDARY SUCCESSION

I. BEGINS WITH NI LIFE I. FOLLOWS REMOVAL

II. NO SOIL PRESENT OF EXISTING BIOTA
III. NEW AREAS II. SOIL ALREADY
(e.g.volcanic island) PRESENT
IV. LICHEN AND MOSS III. OLD AREA(e.g.
COME FIRST FOLLOWING A BUSH
FIRE)
V. BIOMASS IS LOW
IV. SEEDS AND ROOTS
ALREADY PRESENT
V. BIOMASS IS HIGHER

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PRIMARY AND

SECONDARY SUCCESSION