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How Ecosystems Develop |
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Animals and plants will move into and inhabit a newly formed area. This process is called succession and continues until climax communities develop. In other words, an ecosystem can only support a limited amount of life - be it plant or animal. Anything in excess of this limit will not be able to survive because of natural mechanisms for population control. This ecosystem may support the same species as other ecosystems that have developed in the same ecological region, depending on climate and geographical properties. There are actually two types of succession -- primary and secondary. Primary succession often takes place when a new piece of land emerges or comes into existence through events like the slow and steady retreat of a glacier or the drying up of a riverbed.
One similarity between the two types of succession is
that they both lead to an increase in the biomass of the area. |
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Updated August 13th, 2001 by AB |