Assess The Relative Roles Of Natural Succession Essay
Evaluate the relative roles of natural succession and human activities in the creation of ecosystems within the British isles. (40 marks)
An ecosystem is a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment. Ecosystems can be changed by both human activity and natural succession. Ecological succession is the observed process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time. The time scale can be decades (for example, after a wildfire), or even millions of years after a mass extinction. This essay aims to identify ways in which vegetation has transformed over time, and to evaluate the importance of both human and physical factors.
The British Isles, located in the northern hemisphere is home to a mild climate and varied soils, giving rise to a diverse pattern of vegetation and a climatic climax community of deciduous woodland. A deciduous woodland is an example of succession, which happens in temperate climates and is a naturally occurring organic community of plants and animals in the climatic …show more content…
This shows humans are important in this because without interference succession would occur and it would become deciduous forest which is the climatic climax. The chalk grassland at box hill have more biodiversity than a rainforest and contain many endangered species including the small blue butterflies and man orchids. These are specific to the chalk grasslands and there only being 19 sites of chalk grasslands shows just how rare the species are. In the creation of this ecosystem human interference is far more important because if natural succession were allowed to occur then many of the ecosystems would not exist and the biodiversity of the area would suffer. The climax community of the entire area would be deciduous
An ecosystem is a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment. Ecosystems can be changed by both human activity and natural succession. Ecological succession is the observed process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time. The time scale can be decades (for example, after a wildfire), or even millions of years after a mass extinction. This essay aims to identify ways in which vegetation has transformed over time, and to evaluate the importance of both human and physical factors.
The British Isles, located in the northern hemisphere is home to a mild climate and varied soils, giving rise to a diverse pattern of vegetation and a climatic climax community of deciduous woodland. A deciduous woodland is an example of succession, which happens in temperate climates and is a naturally occurring organic community of plants and animals in the climatic …show more content…
This shows humans are important in this because without interference succession would occur and it would become deciduous forest which is the climatic climax. The chalk grassland at box hill have more biodiversity than a rainforest and contain many endangered species including the small blue butterflies and man orchids. These are specific to the chalk grasslands and there only being 19 sites of chalk grasslands shows just how rare the species are. In the creation of this ecosystem human interference is far more important because if natural succession were allowed to occur then many of the ecosystems would not exist and the biodiversity of the area would suffer. The climax community of the entire area would be deciduous