Frq Ecological Succession

FRQ: Ecology Question

Ecological succession from a pioneer community to a climax community is an easy process to understand once you know each step. Ecological succession is the transition in the species composition of a biological community, often following ecological disturbance of the community. There are two types of ecological succession, primary and secondary. Primary succession is the establishment of a biological community in an area virtually barren of life, where there were originally no organisms and where soil has not yet formed. Secondary succession is a type of succession that occurs where an existing community has been cleared by some disturbance that leaves the soil intact. With primary succession, the first species
Species richness (the total number of different species in the community) and relative abundance of the different species (the proportion each species represents of the total individuals in the community) are two components that go along with explaining the species diversity of a community. When there is an increase in species diversity, this is a great thing because with more species that are different from each other, the community can grow larger and thrive without any endangered species. Species with the same ecological niche could be a potentially dangerous thing because if two species are competing to eat the same plant or animal, they could eventually cancel each other out for good (extinction). For example, if two species of fishing birds only eat/catch trout and the trout population is decreasing, the two bird species will compete against each other and eventually one species will die off because there will not be enough food for both species. If there is a change in population density in the primary producers (for example), the whole community is affected because if there are fewer producers to eat, then there are less primary consumers to eat, and so on. Ecologists can figure out a community’s diversity by making a food chain, which is the transfer of food energy up the trophic levels from its source in plants and other photosynthetic organisms through
The levels of organization of a community is simple. It starts with the primary producer, then the primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer, and lastly the decomposer. Some examples of producers are algae, sea weed, and any other type of potosynthetic organism. A pyramid of production is a pyramid that shows the loss of energy with each transfer in a food chain. At the bottom of the pyramid are the large amount of autotrophs with the most energy. The next (but smaller) level is the group of primary consumers (insects and other herbivores) who only get ten percent of the autotroph’s energy. Next are the small group of secondary consumers, who only get ten percent of the primary consumer’s energy. The top level consists of the smallest group, the tertiary consumers who only receive ten percent of the secondary consumer’s