BIOLOGY 2F03 Chapter Notes - Chapter 18: Intertidal Zone, Red Algae, Pioneer Species
Document Summary
Travels to glacier bay had discovered the glacier runs 30-40 km of the valley in. Glacier bay is the ideal laboratory study of ecological succession, the change in plant, animal and microbial communities in an area following disturbance or the creation of new substrate. Ideal because the history of glacier retreat has been documented for centuries. Plants and animals had made use of the new land continuously exposed by the glaciers. Pioneer community: plants who are the first in a successional sequence. Primary succession: succession on newly exposed geological substrates, not significantly modified by organisms. Primary succession on areas cleared by melting of glaciers or volcanic surfaces were lava flows. In areas where disturbance destroys a community without destroying the soil, this is secondary succession (agricultural land after a forest fire) Succession ends when a community is disputed by a disturbance. This is the climax community- late successional community.