Running Head: MECHANISMS THAT DRIVE ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION ON BARREN OR DISTURBED GROUND
Mechanisms that drive ecological succession on barren or disturbed ground
Mechanisms that drive ecological succession on barren or disturbed ground
Succession in ecology is the process where species continuously accumulate and continue to replace one another when the ecosystem is reaching its climax. The continued changes that occur have displayed a growth in biomass production and an elevated number of species that are stratified and complex. The temporary phases that exist as the transformations occur in stages were reported first for the vegetation stages on sand dunes. The biological aspect of the succession can also be called an archetypal evolutionary process.
The ecological succession is powered by certain energy flow in the environment into the ecosystem. In reference to the second law of thermodynamics and the universal law of the maximal energy dispersal an ecological system is able to evolve towards a stationary state in the environment it is in through the consumption of free energy through dispersal means (Lantow Jeff 1998). The forces that drive succession are contrastingly different and are more reliant on many different factors that influence the vegetation in certain surroundings.
There are three stages that the primary succession is affected; initial biotic community, where the aspects that influence it are the state of the vegetation before disturbance; the abiotic environment that is influenced by the intensity or frequency disturbance as well as the condition of parent material after the disturbance and finally the biotic aspect which is affected by colonization.
The initial biotic is a very important process in the ecological succession. It is through this template that will be formed that all the other coming communities will be measured. The initial plant community attributes the species and relationships that take after the environment for long period of time with quite little disruptions. The plants have a huge effect at the way the succession occurs. The initial floristic composition is the first aspect to be affected. The depth of the composition of the floristic on the succession is dependent on the type of disturbance.
The disturbance appears in many different forms; volcanic eruptions, fire and among others. The disturbance to the ecological system is characterized by the frequency and intensity with each of them having a varied form of effect. The frequency of the disturbance is the number of times an environment is disturbed. A continued form of disturbance minimizes the richness of the species as a result of the changing structure of the habitat and the removal of intolerant species (Wurtza Peter, Annilaa Arto, 2010). On the other hand, the intensity of the disturbance is a measure of the size that a certain environment is disturbed like how hot or longer fire burns. In most instances, is a beneficial to the community when we talk about the richness that is attributed to species.
The disturbance is useful in giving the state of the parent; this is the remains after the disturbance. It is able to control the type of species that goes back to the disturbed environment. With the parent material staying intact, the shrubs would be easily colonized with their growing back as they were not successfully destroyed. If the succession occurred deeply it would take a long time for succession to begin.
Colonization is able to happen following several varied methods. This may arise from a plant that was not completely removed from the disturbed ground. In such a case it is able to grow and establish its own population as time goes by. Succession may happen due to seed banks that were present in the soil. Such seeds are able to start growing and talking up the ground (Kramer Koen et al 2005). The seed banks could have attributed themselves to permanent dormancy but the disturbance gave them the chance to grow back again in the altered ground.
The size of the disturbance is similarly important in the colonization. The recovery process intensely affected by the depth of the first destruction as well as the depth of isolation; a large disturbance may inhibit the colonization based on the distance traveled by the seeds to another region. For a small disturbance the vegetation in the environment it may impact the initial vegetation very first. Several plants that near the disturbance will continue to spread the seeds to new location and with this it is able grow an establish themselves. The succession in this situation is bound to happen very quickly. However, if the source is quite far the region that is disturbed, the seeds may not be able to reach the newly established environment and as a result the succession may occur at slower pace. There is a relation between the size of the seed and the ecological process and an inversely relation between the seed size and the dispersal ability. According to the outcome a deeply disturbed site and isolated reveals those sites are less successful.
The main aim of the dispersal of the seeds in the succession is reliant upon the strategies of the ecological surrounding and the means of dispersal of the seeds. Such seeds ate able to colonize new environments; such seeds are dispersed by wind and are tiny. A disturbance can be included in the steady state if the ground is composed of transient dynamics at the patch level. The barren grounds are created as a result of the disturbance where is tends to close at some point.
Even with the occurrence of the primary succession the time at which it occurs and the vigor involved is not known. The succession process is reliant upon the complexity of the web of biotic and abiotic aspects. Where it is quite hard to tell which will be the most influential at any ground. Each small site that is established due to the outcome of a certain number of successional aspects joined to provide an environment that is able to withhold new vegetation.
Succession requires to be examined along a wide range of disturbances and the sites or grounds that have been established it needs to be recorded hence giving information of the specific conditions environment for the site. Studies have not been able to determine the path used by the succession it is hence difficult. Each and every environment has conditions that are adapted to the prevailing situation like wind, content of soil, seed pool source and the level of disturbance as well as others. The importance of the mechanisms and the procedures involved in the successional environment varies and as a result it is difficult to determine the successional pathways.
Competition in equilibrium succession theory is that it is a series of displacement of interacting substances with the inclusion of certain resources. The contrast that arises in the use of the resources is the outcome of differences in the different species. Taking two species that are quite similar in life history characteristics, they are bound to compete with each other. This will lead to both of them coexisting with a smaller similarity between them. Competition is the need for a single or even many resources by the varied forms of organisms. This will result to the most replacing the other one.
The mechanism, competition, according to Tilman (1980) is that in the process of competition the one that is relatively stronger minimizes the quantity resource concentration to the level at which the lesser competitive one is able to survive. Such specie is able to tolerate the least level of resource concentration for growth and reproduction. According to an assumption on equilibrium, in resource competition theory, resources and the organisms are placed together so that all the organisms are able to experience similar concentration in resource as well as the organisms controlling themselves in the environment they are in.
Conclusion
Even with the consideration placed to the succession process of available richness in the soils a result of the varied mechanisms, there however arise several problems that affect the population as well as the plants themselves. There is varied process that the government and other institutions are employing to return the ground or vegetation back to its useful self.
The government in support of other organizations is trying to establish efforts to restore such environments. Forest restoration is required in the tropics and is a big challenge to several countries. It is quite expensive in addition to it being expensive (Sajise Percy 2003; Anderson Bruce N. et al 1989). An option that is used is the ANR strategy which is fast being accepted and applied. It is cheap, enhances biodiversity in addition to it being quite effective.
References
Anderson Bruce N., Howarth Robert W., Lawrence R. 1989. Linking Restoration and Ecological Succession. Retrieved on 1st August 2011 from http://www1.inecol.edu.mx/repara/download/III_1_LinkingRestorationandEcologicalSuccession.pdf
Kramer Koen, Brinkman Bert, Kuiters Loek, Verdonschot Piet, 2005. Is ecological succession predictable? Theory and applications. Alterra, Wageningen.
Lantow Jeff, 1998. Vegetation analysis: A graphical analysis of plant succession in desert communities affected by fire; University of Nevada Las Vegas.
Sajise Percy, 2003. Working with nature: technical and social dimensions of assisted natural regeneration. Retrieved on 1st August 2011 from http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/AD466E/ad466e04.htm
Wurtza Peter, Annilaa Arto, 2010. Ecological succession as an energy dispersal process. BIO-3042; No. of Pages9. Retrieved on 1st August 2011 from http://www.helsinki.fi/~aannila/arto/succession.pdf
