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8 Cards in this Set
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Ecological succession |
Is the observed process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time. The times scale can be decades (for example, after a wildfire), or even millions of years after a mass extinction. |
Observed changes in species structure of ecological communities over time. |
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Primary succession |
Is one of two types of biological and ecological of plant life, occurring in an environment in which new substrate devoid vegetation and usually lacking soil, such as a lava flow or area left from retreating glacier, is deposited. In other words it is a gradual growth of an ecosystem over a longer period. |
Starts from nothing, gradual growth of ecosystem over a longer period of time. |
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Secondary succession |
Is one of the two types of ecological succession of plant life. as opposed to the first, primary succession, secondary succession is a process started by an event (for example fire, harvesting, hurricane) that reduces an already established ecosystem for (example a forest or a wheat field) to a smaller population of species, and as such secondary succession occurs on preexisting soil whereas primary succession usually occurs in a place lacking soil. |
Starts with some sort of life, and is started by an event such as a fire. |
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Climax community |
Is a historic term that expressed a biological community of plants and animals and fungi which, through the process of ecological succession the development of vegetation in an area over time, had reached a steady state |
A steady state in a biological community. |
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1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens |
An eruption of a big volcano. |
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Disturbance |
Is it temporary change in environmental conditions that causes a pronounced change in an ecosystem. disturbances often act quickly and with great effects, sometimes resulting in the removal of large amounts of biomass. |
Is sudden and lethal. |
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Stress |
Is small amount and damage over time and reduces the growth or reproduction of individuals. |
Damage over time |
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Alternative stable state |
Predict the ecosystems can exist under multiple states sets of unique biotic and abiotic conditions. These alternative states are non-transitory and therefore considered stable over eat a logically relevant time scales. Ecosystems made transition from one stable state to another, in what is known as a state shift sometimes termed a phase shift or regime shift, when perturbed. Do to ecological feedbacks ecosystems display resistance to state shifts and therefore intend to remain in one state unless perturbations are large enough. |
Communities can follow different successional paths and display alternative states. |