Succession

• Pioneer species - the first species to arrive and survive at an uncolonised/sterile environment
• Climax community - the final stage in succession
• lichen - an example of a pioneer species
• colonisers - any species which arrives and survives during process of succession
• seral stage - each stage where a newly arrived coloniser outcompetes the previous one
• primary succession - this occurs from an original, sterile environment
• secondary succession - this occurs where seeds/spores may still be in soil
• abiotic conditions - non-living conditions e.g. temperature , pH
• biotic conditions - living conditions, involve life e.g. food, disease
• population - number of individuals of the same species in a given area at a given time.
• community - the number of individuals of each species in a given area at a given time.
• ecosystem - the interaction between the biotic and abiotic factors.
• habitat - the place an organism lives.
• niche - role of a species in its environment
• Pioneer species -

  • many wind blown spores/seeds
  • ability to photosynthesise
  • nitrogen fixers
  • ability to anchor to rock
  • extremophiles
• Climax Community -

  • stable environment
  • high biomass
  • high niches
  • many habitats
  • variety of food sources
• biomass- dry mass of tissue in a given area at a given time