Ecological Succession Stages and Types 

A key feature of all ecological communities is that their composition and structure always change in response to environmental conditions. This transformation is orderly, sequential, and parallel with the changes in the physical environment. This steady and reasonably predictable change that makes up a specific area is called ecological succession. Here, let’s explore the meaning and different types of ecological succession in detail.

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Ecological Succession

Ecology

Disorders of the Circulatory System

Seral Communities

• Mesarch - The succession beginning at terrestrial habitat with adequate moisture conditions.
• Hydrosere - Where there is an abundance of like in ponds, lakes, streams, swamps, bogs, and so on.
• Xerarch - Where there is a minimum amount of moisture, like rocks and desserts.
• Lithosere - Succession initiating, particularly on rocks.
• Psammosere - Initiation of succession on the sand.
• Halosere - Initiation of succession on saline soil or saline water.

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Example

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Causes of Ecological Succession

• External causes - These include invasion, migration, and competition among various species that impact soil conditions.
• Biotic cause - The organisms in a population compete for survival. Some of them are eliminated during the process, while others are added.
• Climatic causes - This includes temperature change, humidity, rainfall, gas composition, etc.

Dog Life Cycle

Stages of Ecological Succession

• Nudation - Typically, succession begins with the creation of a barren site, and this stage is known as nudation (disturbance).
• Migration - The arrival of propagules is referred to as migration. Propagules are nothing but materials that moves an organism to the next phase of its life cycle,
• Ecesis - It is the process of establishing and growing vegetation.
• Competition - As vegetation develops and spreads, different species compete for light, space, and nutrients.
• Reaction - Here, autogenic changes, such as the growth of humus, impact the habitat. Also, one plant community is typically replaced by another.
• Stabilization - It is the formation of an allegedly stable climax community.

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Types of Ecological Succession

• Primary Succession - It occurs when an area in any of the fundamental habitats, such as terrestrial, marine, or freshwater ecosystem, is inhabited for the first time by organisms. Thus, primary succession begins on a sterile location (one not previously been colonised by a community), such as a newly exposed rock or dune, where the conditions of existence may be unfavorable at first.
• Secondary Succession - This occurs when overgrazing, fire, sudden climate changes, clearing or cutting of trees, etc., have cleared the region under colonisation. Secondary succession is usually faster due to greater nutritional and other conditions in previously plant-covered areas.
• Cyclic Succession - This occurs within existing communities and is simply a cyclical change in the ecosystem's structure. Some plants grow at particular seasons of the year while others stay dormant. This radically alters the habitat.

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Other Types

• Autogenic Succession - After the onset of biotic succession, the existing vegetation is held accountable for its own replacement, and this is known as autogenic succession.
• Allogenic Succession - Here, other external factors  replace the existing vegetation rather than existing vegetation,
• Autotrophic Succession - The early and ongoing dominance of autotrophic organisms like green plants distinguishes it.
• Heterotrophic Succession - The early and ongoing dominance of heterotrophic organisms like fungi and bacteria distinguishes it.
• Retrogressive Succession - It denotes a return to a simpler, less crowded, or even weaker kind of community from an advanced climax community.
• Induced Succession - It is often induced by human activities like industrial pollution, shifting cultivation, and over-grazing.

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Characteristics of Ecological Succession

• It is a methodical procedure.
• It involves changes in species structure along with increased species diversity.
• The succession occurs due to changes in the physical environment and the species' population.
• The changes that occur are directed and occur in relation to time.
• It also works in a stable ecosystem.
• The population of decomposers will grow to a large size.
• The modifications are calculable.
• At first, simple food chains will give way to complicated food chains and webs.

Ecosystem

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