Changes in Ecosystems:

Ecological Succession

Succession
• All living organisms and their environment are
mutually reactive, affecting each other in various
ways.
• Animal population, flora and vegetation are
interdependent and are mutually reactive.
• Succession is an ecological phenomenon of
replacement of an earlier ecosystem by a higher
biomass rich and trophically diversified
ecosystem.
• It is usually a long term process taking centuries
for more resistant system of producer, consumer
and decomposer organisms resulting I stable
system
 There are two main types of
Ecological Succession

• Primary Succession: The process of

creating life in an area where no life
previously existed.

• Secondary Succession: The process of

re-stabilization that follows a disturbance
in an area where life has formed an
ecosystem.
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 Definition:
• 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 is succession.
 Primary Succession
• The development of an
ecosystem in an area that
has never had a
community living within it
occurs by a process
called PRIMARY
SUCCESSION.
• An example of an area in
which a community has
never lived before, would
be a new lava or rock
from a volcano that
makes a new island.
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 Primary Succession
• Begins in a place without any soil
– In the beginning there is only rock, sand,
volcanic ash.
– Since there is no soil, there is no community.

Why is there no soil?

In order for there to be soil there must
be nutrients like nitrogen. So … why
is there no soil?
 Primary Succession

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 Primary Succession
• Lichens begin growing on the rocks. Over
many years lichens break down rock into
sand.
• Weathering and erosion break down rock
into sand.
 Primary Succession
• Lichens that do not need soil to survive
• Called PIONEER SPECIES (Why?)
 Primary Succession
• Lichens grow larger. Some die.
Decomposers arrive and break down the
lichens. The dead lichens and waste
materials of the decomposers enrich the
sand. Nitrogen cycle begins. Eventually
enough nutrients enter the sand and it
becomes soil.
http://www.life.uiuc.edu
 Primary Succession

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 Primary Succession
• Seeds are blown in by the wind or carried
in by animals. Simple plants like mosses
can grow in the new soil
• The plants grow and the soil gets enriched
as plants die..
 Primary Succession

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 Primary Succession
• Herbs and weeds can grow in the thicker,
enriched soil
 Primary Succession
• The simple plants die, adding more
organic material
• The soil layer thickens, and grasses,
wildflowers, and other plants begin to take
over

http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu
 Primary Succession
• Medium sized animals and birds make this their
habitat.
• The vegetation grows closer together, reducing
the amount of space available for growing.
• Competition between lichen and shrubs for the
same space. Eventually one species (lichen) will
die out (or move) and the
other species will survive
(shrubs).
 Primary Succession

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 Primary Succession
• These plants die, and they add more
nutrients to the soil
• Shrubs and tress can survive now
 Primary Succession
• Insects, small birds, and mammals have
begun to move in
• What was once bare rock now supports a
variety of life

http://p2-raw.greenpeace.org
 Primary Succession

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 Primary Succession
• These plants die, and they add more
nutrients to the soil
• Now larger trees can grow: Beech, Oak,
Walnut, Maple…
 The Climax Community

• 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 for all the members of the
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, until another disturbance clears the area.

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 These are Climax Communities

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• Two main physical factors determine the nature of the
community that develops in an area. These are
temperature and the amount of rainfall.

• If we place the amount of rainfall on a graph’s “x”

axis, from 0-10, 10-20,and 20-30+ inches and the
temperature along the “y” axis from hot, moderate, to
cold, the various types of ecosystems will fit into the
graph based on the conditions that they require.

Temperature
Cold Cold desert Tundra Taiga
Moderate Temperate forest Grassland Deciduous forest
Hot Hot desert Savanna Tropical forest
Rainfall (inches) 0-10 10-20 20-30+
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A summary of changes that occur during
succession:
• Pioneer species colonize a bare or disturbed site. Soil building.

• Changes in the physical environment occur (e.g., light,

moisture).

• New species of plants 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 enable other species to become established.

• Animals come in with or after the plants they need to survive.

• Eventually a climax community that is more or less stable will

become established and have the ability to reproduce itself.
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• Disturbances will start the process of succession again.
What if?
What if?
 What if?
• An avalanche?
 What if?
• Deforestation?
Threats to Climax Communities
• Forest Fires
• Humans building cities and roads
• Flooding, Volcanic eruptions
• Clearing a community for agricultural purposes

• Anything that destroys the existing community,

but much of the soil remains. Sometimes, some
of the organisms remain as well.
Secondary Succession
Secondary Seccession
 Secondary Succession
• Organisms are destroyed but the soil is
safe.
• The soil already contains the seeds of
weeds, grasses, and trees. More seeds
are carried to the area by wind and birds.
• Succession begins again but the primary
species are different.
• Because soil is present, this succession is
faster.
 Ecological Succession
•N
Secondary Succession on an
Abandoned Cornfield
 Secondary Succession
• 1. Some seeds in the
soil begin to grow.
 Secondary Succession
• Larger shrubs move in.
 Secondary Succession
• 3. Fast growing trees
(such as pines) move
in

• 4. These are followed

by slower-growing
hardwood trees
http://www.ux1.eiu.edu
http://www.agen.ufl.edu
 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
• Insects
• Nationwide, 70 million acres of public and private lands are
at serious risk from insects and diseases
• Across the South, one of the biggest forest management
challenges is the Southern Pine Beetle. Attacking timber
stands throughout the region, it is estimated that 57 million
acres are at risk of infestation. From 1999 to the present,
the Southern Pine Beetle outbreak has caused timber value
losses of over $1.5 billion.

Gypsy Moth, Lymantria dispar

(Linnaeus) female
Photo from USDA APHIS PPQ archives
• Diseases
• Forest pests and disease have seriously harmed the environment and have imposed
significant cost to the U.S. economy. Exotic pests and pathogens, such as the
chestnut blight, Dutch elm disease, and beech bark disease have had a profound
effect on Eastern forests.

• Management of these pests and diseases has been impacted by a variety of factors
such as forest fragmentation, increasing human population, and the expansion of
invasive species.

• Prompt identification and treatment of forest diseases often means the difference
between losing or saving a valuable forest stand.

Annosum Root Disease

• Invasive Plants
• Invasive species have been characterized as a “catastrophic wildfire
in slow motion.” Thousands of nonnative invasive plants have
infested millions of acres of land and water across the Nation.

• These invaders cause massive disruptions in ecosystems by

reducing biodiversity and degrading the health of our nation’s
forests, prairies, mountains, wetlands, rivers, and oceans. They
have the capacity to dominate, overwhelm, or wipe out native
species.

• The financial impact from invasive species infestations in the United

States has been estimated at $138 billion per year in total economic
damages and associated control costs.

Congongrass Kudzu
• Human Development
Depending upon moisture content, primary and
secondary succession may be of different types:

•Hydrach or Hydrosere: succession which start

with water such as pond, lake, swamp, bogs.
•Xerach or Xerosere: which start with dry area or
minimum amount of moisture.
•Lithosere: succession starts on rocks.
•Psammosere: succession starts on sand
•Halosere: succession starts on saline
Some succession is also classified on the basis of
community metabolism:
•Autotrophic succession: Characterized by early
and continued dominance of autotrophic organisms
like green plant. It begins in inorganic environment
and energy flow is maintained indefinitely.
•Heterotrophic succession: characterised by early
dominance of heterotrophs such as bacteria,
actinomycetes, fungi and animals. It begins with
organic environment and there is progressive
decline in energy content.
 General Process of Succession

1. Nudation: formation of base area.

2. Invasion: arrival of the reproductive bodies or
propagules of various organisms and their
settlement in the new or base area.
Plants are the first invaders also called as
Pioneer species.
1. Ecesis: successful establishment of migrated plant
or species.
2. Aggregation: where species increases in numbers
by reproduction and form large population in the
area.
3. Competition: both inter and intra specific for
space, water and food.
4. Reaction: in turn species has a strong influence
on environment. Reaction may leads to several
seral communities.
5. Stabilization or Climax: final community
become more or less stabilised for a longer period
of time and it can maintain itself in the equilibrium.
Last seral stage is mature, self maintaining, self
reproducing through developmental stages and
relatively permanent and called as Climax
community and climax vegetation.
 Forest Ecosystem
• Roughly 40% land is occupied by forest. But in India it is
one-tenth.
• Abiotic component: inorganic and organic substances
present in the soil and atmosphere, dead organic debris,
light.
• Biotic component: the living organism present in the food
chain.

– Producers: mainly trees and much species diversity and greater

degree of stratification in forest. Besides tree shrubs and ground
vegetation are also present.
• Consumers:
– Primary consumers: Herbivors. Ex. Ants,
beetles, grasshoppers, elephants, deer,
foxes, mongooses etc.
– Secondary consumers: carnivores like
snakes, birds, lizards, fox etc.
– Tertiary consumers: top carnivores like lion,
tiger etc.

Decomposer: variety od microbes like

actinomycetes, bacteria etc.
 Grassland Ecosystem
• Typically 19% of terrestrial system is
occupied by grassland ecosystem.
• Grassland ecosystem dominated by grass
species but some times few trees and
shrubs are also present.
• Abiotic components: C,H,O,N,P,S, CO2,
H2O, soil, temperature, rainfall etc.
• Biotic component:
– PRIMARY CONSUMERS: Herbivores which
feeds on green plants or grazing animals as
cow, buffaloes, deers, sheep, rabbit, etc.
– Secondary Consumers: animals like fox,
jackals, snakes, lizard, birds
– Decomposers: microbes
 Desert Ecosystem
• In desert ecosystem less than 10 inches
rainfall. Scarcity of rainfall.
• There are different life forms that are
adapted to desert ecosystem are:
– The annuals: grow when there is adequate
moisture.
– The succulents, such as cactus, which can
store water.
– Desert shrub
• Producers: shrub bushes, grasses few
trees, lichens and mosses also present.

• Consumers: reptiles and insects,

nocturnal rodents and birds, camel (ship of
desert).

• Decomposers: bacteria and fungi.

 Mountain Ecosystem
• Mountains cover 24% of the Earth’s land surface. They are
home to 12% of the world’s population and another 14% of
the population reside in their immediate proximity.
• Mountains are key centers of biological and cultural diversity
as well important sites of traditional ecological knowledge,
and influence the climate at many scales.
• However, mountain ecosystems are particularly fragile,
subject to both natural and anthropogenic drivers of change.
These range from volcanic and seismic events and flooding
to global climate change and the loss of vegetation and soils
because of inappropriate agricultural and forestry practices,
and extractive.
• All mountain ecosystems share the property of high
altitude, rising rapidly from the surrounding terrain.
Generally, mountainous regions are defined as any
rugged gradient rising above 5,000 feet. Mountains are
distinguished from plateaus by their grade.
 Aquatic ecosystem
• Pond Ecosystem: A pond ecosystem refers to
fresh water ecosystem where there are
communities of organisms dependent on each
other with the prevailing water environment
for their nutrients and survival. Usually ponds
are shallow water bodies with a depth of12-15
feet in which the sun rays can penetrate to the
bottom permitting the growth of plants there
– Abiotic component:
• Biotic component:
– Producers: Phytoplankton, algae, submerged
plant, floating plants.
– Consumers: benthos, Zooplankton,
invertebrates, vertebrates
– Decomposers: bacteria and fungi
Stratification of pond:

•Littoral zone: Peripheral shallow water zone in

which water can reach upto bottom.

•Limnetic zone: central part of pond where there

is penetration of effective light.

•Profundal zone: Deep water region where there

is no effective light penetration.
 Marine Ecosystem
• Seas and ocean.
• Biotic component:
– Producers: autotrophs- phytoplankton, algae,
– Consumers:
• Primary consumer: herbivores (crustaceon,
mollusc, fishes.
• Secondary consumers: fishes
– Decomposers: bacteria and fungi
 Estuaries
• Point where sea water mix with fresh
water
• It is transition zone or ecotone between
freshwater and marine water.