sucession:

Question 1

What is sucession?

Answer 1

= a change in ecological community over time

Question 2

What does primary sucession start with?

Answer 2

= pioneer species, colonising bare rock or sand
= adapted to surive harsh abiotic factors, through death and their decomposition, the abiotic factors become less harsh, and form a thin layer of soil, humus

Question 3

What happens because of this humus?

Answer 3

= mosses and smaller plants, can now survive
= increase depth + nutrients in soil
= pattern continues
=
= abiotic factors become less harsh
= larger plants surivival + change the environmental factor

Question 4

How does competition happen?

Answer 4

= each new species may change, the environment in such a way, that it becomes less suitable for the previous species
= each species is outcompeted by a new colonising species

Question 5

How does biodiversity increase therefore?

Answer 5

= changes that organisms produce in their abiotic environment can result to a less hostile enironent and increase biodiversity

Question 6

What is the final stage of sucession?

Answer 6

= climax community
= dominated by trees

Question 7

What is secondary sucession?

Answer 7

= sucession is disrupted and plants are destroyed
= sucession starts again but soil is already created so does not start from the bare rock stage

Question 8

What does sucession do to species richness and biodiversity?

Answer 8

= increases
= as sucession happens larger plant species and animals colonise the area
= food webs become more complex

Question 9

How can we conserve habitats?

Answer 9

= sucession is managed
= maintaining earlier stages of sucession, preventing climax community, greater variety of habitats are conserved
= greater range of species
=