Secondary Succession What Is the Difference Between Essay

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Secondary Succession

What is the difference between primary and secondary succession? This paper delves into the difference between the two and presents good working definitions and examples for the importance of both primary and secondary succession.

Ecological succession is part of natural world changes that keep ecosystems healthy and involve the evolution of ecosystems as well. It may take hundreds and even thousands of years for nature to complete the succession process, which is a "…gradual process of change and replacement" of certain types of species in a community, according to the book Holt Environmental Science Chapter 5, How Ecosystems Work (Holt, et al., 2004, p. 129). Every new community of plants that take hold makes it more difficult for the preceding community to survive, Holt explains.

Primary succession generally occurs in an area where "no ecosystem existed before," Holt explains. New ecosystems for example might grow on sand dunes or on rocks or on cliffs that were barren of plant life. As to secondary succession, which is far more common than primary succession, it occurs on a surface "…where an ecosystem has previously existed.

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Secondary succession occurs in ecosystems that have been disturbed or disrupted," usually by humans, animals, or by natural world events (volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and other natural events) (Holt, 129).

A classic example of secondary success is what has happened in Washington State since the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. The blast from that volcano blew down and destroyed about 44,460 acres of forest (Holt, 130). However, shortly after the eruption, plants began to "colonize the volcanic debris," plants that are called "pioneer species" (Holt, 130). The pioneer species were the first organisms to grow after the eruption, and in time, those pioneer species will "begin the process of ecological succession" and over time those species will make way for other species (Holt, 130). And after 12 years, the forest that was blown down by the force of the volcano was in the midst of secondary succession; new trees, new shrubs and….....

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