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Primary succession occurs in a barren area devoid of life forms. Incoming species migrate due to a change in conditions, and the process of succession continues until the ecological community reaches stability.
Types
New species arise after volcanic lava flow has wiped out all vegetation, in the wake of a receding glacier, when flooding subsides or after a road is abandoned.
Time Frame
The number of new species arising tends to gain momentum, rise sharply and then decrease to a point of stability. According to a 2007 Journal of Vegetation Science study on primary succession after the eruption of Mount St. Helen's in Washington State, species density increased from 1.5 species per plot in 1984 to a peak of 19 species per plot in 2001.
Function
Humans have prospered because of primary succession. Game populations exploded as glaciers retreated, and farmland ultimately benefited from nutrients deposited by floods.
Benefits
Ecologists learn how to help restore habitat by watching the way primary succession works, transforming farmland for wildlife and encouraging regrowth after mining.
Significance
Damaged ecological communities in recovery are most similar to primary succession. Examining this process yields vital information about forest migration and other ecosystem responses to climate change.
Source:
Library of Congress: Primary succession and Ecosystem Rehabilitation
More Information:
Marietta College Biology and Environmental Science department: Succession
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