AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Secondary succession-Succession where natural communities develop in an area that was earlier occupied by living organisms that were somehow lost. It begins in areas where natural biotic communities have been destroyed such as in abandoned farm lands, deforested lands, flooded lands, burned forests, etc.

Detailed explanation-2: -Old-field succession is an example of secondary succession. It occurs when farmland is abandoned. When a farmer stops cultivating a field, grasses and weeds quickly grow and cover the abandoned land. The pioneer grasses and weeds grow rapidly and produce many sees to cover large areas.

Detailed explanation-3: -In secondary succession, a previously occupied area is re-colonized following a disturbance that kills much or all of its community. A classic example of secondary succession occurs in oak and hickory forests cleared by wildfire. Wildfires will burn most vegetation and kill animals unable to flee the area.

Detailed explanation-4: -When an abandoned field remains unused by humans for an extended period of time, it starts to undergo natural succession. Natural succession is the change in the species structure, both flora and fauna, of an ecological community over time.

Detailed explanation-5: -If an ecosystem begins on previously unvegetated terrain and nothing happens that would trigger secondary succession, then the ecosystem will reach a climax with primary succession. Some examples of secondary succession could be a wildfire or logging deforestation.