Ecological Succession

Ecologial succession

A series of events by which life comes back

Succession

Occur at a predictable rate

Primary succession

A lifeless habitat, “bare rock”

Secondary succession

Distrubance occurs but “soil remains”

Pioneer organisms

Organisms that tend to make ther living in an area after a disturbance first

Climax organisms

Species that form a stable ecosystem in the final stage of ecological succession

Ecosystem services

A way we benefit from ecosystems

Provisional

Resources provided by nature that we can use or eat

Regulating

Processes that keep ecosystems healthy and functional

Supporting

Underlying natural processes that are the foundation of ecosystems

Cultural

Provide meaning and inspiration (religious, spiritual or historic value)

Indicator species

Organisms that are sensitive to env. change and their presence or absence indicates the health of the ecosystem

HIPPO threats

Habitat loss

Invasive Species

Pollution

Population Growth (human)

Over-harvesting

Ecosystem resilience

Ability of an ecosystem to return to its original condition after major disturbance

Higher biodiversity = higher ecosystem?

Yes

1. Repopulate disturbed ground and provide food and habitat for animals

2. If one species is nearly killed off, another species may be able to fill the same role in the ecosystem

Specialist species

1. One type of habitat

2. Few types of food

3. Narrow range of env. conditions

Generalists species

1. Different types of habitat

2. Variety of foods

3. tolerate wide variety of env. conditions

Biodiversity’s different levels

1. Ecosystem diversity

2. Species diversity

3. Genetic diversity

Ecosystem diversity

The number of different habitats available in an area

Species diversity

1. Richness - total number of speciess

2. Evenness - balance between different species

(The number of different species in an ecosystem as well as the balance and evenness)