THE ONLY CONSTANT

IN LIFE IS CHANGE”
-HERACLITUS
 Permian Period
(250 million years ago)
Changes in Ecosystems:
Ecological Succession
 HOW DO ECOSYSTEMS
RESPOND TO CHANGE?
• A change in structure ensures a change in
function and species composition.
• Change is a gradual and fairly predictable
change in species composition of an area
over time.
• Some species colonize and their
populations become more numerous,
whereas other species populations decline
and even disappear.
 What is Ecological Succession?

• Natural, gradual changes in the

types of species that live in an
area
• Can be primary or secondary
• The gradual replacement of one
plant community by another
through natural processes over
time
 Succession in Volcanic Areas
• Krakatau – August 27, 1883 (Sundra Strait
between Sumatra and Java)
 KRAKATAU
• 10:02 am explosion (100-150 megatons of TNT)
• The sound of the explosion traveled at the speed of
sound around the world 7 times.
• Blackened sky with showers of ash and heavy,
suffocating sulfur filled the sky and rained down on the
previous tropical rainforest ecosystem.
• Island collapsed causing a 40 meter high tsunami along
the shores of Java and Sumatra killing 40,000 people.
• Krakaktau had been replaced by an undersea crater 7
km long and 270 m deep.
• All traces of life were extinguished!
KRAKATAU
 SUCCESSION OF KRAKATAU
• Rakata the southern
remnant of of
Krakatau survived
as a sterile obsidian-
laced pumice island.
• Life quickly re-
established.
• Spiders “ballooned”
making their way to
the island “aeolian
plankton”
SUCCESSION OF KRAKATAU
• Other organisms that undergo long-distance
dispersal as hitchikers include: springtails,
crickets, earwigs, barklice, bacteria, fungal
spores, nematode worms, and mites.
• Organisms that fly on their own include moths,
butterflies, dragonflies, true flies, beetles, birds,
bats, and wasps.
• The monitor lizard and reticulated python swim.
• Rafting on logs and branches occurred by
insects, snakes, frogs, and small mammals.
• Waterspouts can pick up fish and transport
them to lakes and streams.
• Seeds pass through the guts of birds and
mammals. Pioneer plants (morning glory)
and grasses moved in first, then Casuarina
pine, and now it is covered entirely by
Asian rain forest, but NOT the climax
community that existed prior to the
eruption.
• As the biodiversity of primary producers, so
did the biodiversity of the food web.
Primary Succession on a Newly
Established Volcanic Island
Primary Succession – involves the
gradual establishment of biologic
communities in an area that has not
been occupied by life before.
SUCCESSION OF KRAKATAU
Secondary Succession on Krakatau
Secondary Succession –
involves the re-establishment
of a biotic community in an
area where a biotic community
was previously present.
 Primary Succession
• Begins in a place without any soil:
» Sides of volcanoes
» Landslides
» Flooding
• First, lichens that do not need soil to
survive grow on rocks
• Next, mosses grow to hold newly
made soil
• Known as PIONEER SPECIES
 Pioneer Species

Low, growing moss

Lichens break down rock to plants trap moisture
form soil. and prevent soil
erosion
 Primary Succession
• Soil starts to form as lichens and
the forces of weather and erosion
help break down rocks into
smaller pieces
• When lichens die, they
decompose, adding small amounts
of organic matter to the rock to
make soil
 Primary Succession
• Simple plants like mosses and ferns
can grow in the new soil
 Primary Succession
• The simple plants die, adding more
organic material (nutrients to the soil)
• The soil layer thickens, and grasses,
wildflowers, and other plants begin to
take over
 Primary Succession
• These plants die, and they add more
nutrients to the soil
• Shrubs and trees can survive now
 Primary Succession
• Insects, small birds, and mammals
have begun to move into the area
• What was once bare rock, now
supports a variety of life
 Primary Succession
Boreal Forest Biome

Climax
Heath Pine, Community
Small spruce
mat Balsam fir,
Exposed rocks become herbs and
colonized by lichens and and aspen paper birch,
mosses to create a soil. May shrubs white
take hundreds to thousands of spruce
years to establish a fertile soil
 Secondary Succession
• Begins in a place that already has
soil and was once the home of
living organisms
• Occurs faster and has different
pioneer species than primary
succession
• Example: after forest fires
Secondary Succession
Temperate Deciduous Forest Biome

Mature Oak-
Young Pine Hickory Forest
Shrubs
Annual
Perennial Forest
weeds
Weeds and
grasses
 Climax Community
• A stable group of plants and
animals that is the end result of
the succession process
• Does not always mean big trees
– Grasses in prairies
– Cacti in deserts
 S
Early Successional Midsuccessional Late Wilderness
Species Species Successional Species
Rabbit Elk Species
Grizzly bear
Quail Moose Turkey
Wolf
Ringneck Pheasant Deer Martin
Caribou
Dove Ruffed grouse Hammond’s
Bighorn Sheep
flycatcher
Bobolink Snowshoe hare California condor
Gray squirrel
Pocket Gopher Bluebird Great horned owl

Species at Various Stages of

Succession
Table 8-1 Ecosystem Characteristics at Immature and Mature Stages of Ecological Succession
Table 8-1
Immature Ecosystem Immature Ecosystem

Page 158
Characteristic (Early Successional Stage) (Late Successional Stage)

Ecosystem Structure
Small Large
Plant size
Low High
Species diversity
Mostly producers, few decomposers Mixture of producers, consumers,
Trophic structure
and decomposers
Few, mostly generalized
Ecological niches Many, mostly specialized
Low
Community organization High
(number of interconnecting
links)

Ecosystem Function
Low High
Biomass
High Low
Net primary productivity
Simple, mostly plant herbivore Complex, dominated by
Food chains and webs
with few decomposers decomposers
Efficiency of nutrient recycling Low High
Efficiency of energy use Low High
 How Do Species Replace One
Another?
• 1. Facilitation – promotion of growth due natural
enrichment of soil.
• 2. Inhibition – early successional species can
hinder the establishment and growth of other
species. Removal of the inhibitors by fire,
bulldozer or other disturbance is the only way to
allow other species to establish.
• 3. Tolerance – late successional plants are
unaffected by plants at earlier stages.
 What is the Role of Disturbance in
Succession?
• A disturbance is a discrete event in time that
disrupts an ecosystem or community.
• Natural disturbances = fires, hurricanes,
tornadoes, droughts, and floods.
• Anthropogenic disturbances = deforestation,
overgrazing, and plowing.
• Disturbances create openings for opportunistic
species to colonize areas and change the
community structure of an area.
 What is the Role of Fire in
Succession?
• Fires start by lightening in the following
biomes: savanna, temperate grasslands,
chaparral, temperate rain forest, and
northern coniferous forest.
• Fire burns older trees by burning biomass
and releasing seeds as cones open in
intense heat = ensures regeneration.
 Fire Suppression
• Fire suppression can be very dangerous.
It allows for the build up of large quantities
of flammable underbrush and
undergrowth.
• It allows conifers to grow very large and
store energy as biomass.
• BOTH contribute to fuel for the fire,
making a moderate forest fire catastrophic!
Forest Fires
 Is Succession Predictable?
• General patterns of succession are predictable.
• Research indicated that there is no ecological plan
leading to ecological balance or equilibrium.
• Succession can be highly variable, chaotic, and
unpredictable.
• We do know there will be changes to structure, function,
and species composition that will continue to change
over time due to facilitation, inhibition, and tolerance.
• The Earth’s ecosystems are dynamic and resilient.
Research shows that ecosystems with high diversity in
primary producers are the most resilient ecosystems.
Climax Community in Temperate
Deciduous Forest