L 4.3 Succession

Question 1

How do communities change over time?

Answer 1

Ecosystems change overtime, especially after disturbances, as some species die out and new species move in.

Question 2

Ecological succession

Answer 2

a series of more-or-less predictable changes

that occur in a community over time.

Question 3

primary succession

Answer 3

Succession that begins in an area with no remnants of an older community

Question 4

pioneer species

Answer 4

The first species to colonize barren areas

Question 5

One ecological pioneer that grows on bare rock is lichen

what is it

Answer 5

a mutualistic symbiosis between a fungus and an alga

Question 6

Climax Communities

Answer 6

An ecological community in which populations of plants or animals remain stable and exist in balance with each other and their environment.

Question 7

Do ecosystems return to “normal” following a disturbance?

Answer 7

Secondary succession in healthy
ecosystems following natural disturbances often
reproduces the original climax community.

Ecosystems may or may not recover from extensive human-caused disturbances.