Primary / Secondary Succession

Definition: Succession is the development of plant and animal life as an ecosystem changes overtime. 

Primary Succession:  is the growth of an ecosystem that starts from bare rock. In this area there are no plant or animals that previously occupied it. This process occurs very slowly because there are organic compounds present in order to allow growth.

Lichen: example of a pioneer organism in the temperate deciduous forest. Pioneer organisms are basically the first organism to occupy an area.  

1) Lichens have the ability to give off acid which will then degrade the rock to form soil. 

http://wallpaperswide.com/lichens_on_rock-wallpapers.html

2) Once the soil is present in the biome, moss can now start to grow in the area. As this moss decays, it leads to nutrients being added to the soil such as organic matter. 

http://mountainmoss.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Irish-Moss.jpg

3) As time goes on and more rock starts to decay, the soil become thicker which leads to the formation of weeds and grasses

http://www.commodities.caes.uga.edu/turfgrass/georgiaturf/WeedMngt/images/PANDI1.jpg

4) When the grass and weeds decompose, those nutrients are added to the soil also. When this soil is thick enough, bushes and small trees can finally start to grow

http://s3.amazonaws.com/wordpress_production/articles

/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/how-to-plant-a-bush.jpg

5) Then the first type of trees can start to grow which are pine trees (gymosperms). They are the first ones to grow because when compared to other trees it requires the least amount of nutrients.  

http://thegraphicsfairy.com/wp-content/uploads/blogger/-IsaIDChrUfw/TeghgfWKaGI/AAAAAAAAMxE/AxxZFChpsj8/s1600/tree%2Bpine-graphicsfairy008b.jpg

6) When this soil has finally reached an optimal richness, the deciduous trees now have the chance to finally start growing in the soil. 

http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/273922/273922,1304197269,

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7) After a while, these trees will be the most dominant ones in the area because they can grow tall and capture the suns energy

8) In the end, these deciduous trees will become mature and smaller plants such as wild flowers have to adapt to the minimal sunlight they have available. This is the climax of forest developing. 

http://wildtracks.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/autumn-foliage.jpg

Secondary Succession: the growth of an ecosystem in a biome that already has vegetation. These areas have been damaged by some sort of natural disaster and in these areas there is now organic matter present. 

1) Soil is present in this area so weeds will be the first thing that will grow

2) After this all of the steps that happen in primary succession will occur again