Reference no: EM133434642

Ecosystem disturbance occurs after volcanic eruptions, glacier retreat, sand dunes, storms, fires, and agriculture. Also, violations occur after deforestation, grazing, insect invasion. All these damages lead to the complete death of living individuals, and the loss of the soil complex. After destruction, the old ecosystem is replaced by a new one. This process is known as ecological succession. Whereas, the process of succession refers to the predictable and unpredictable changes in the system over time.

Many researchers since the 20th century have studied the succession of vegetation from sand dunes to grasslands and mature forests. If we consider abandoned fields, there is a predictable succession in the composition of the plant community, the weed (Erigeron canadense) settled first, then the white aster (Aster pilosis), and the broom (Andropogon virginicus). This led to a predictable succession pattern.

Consider the ecological sequence following the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, Washington. At that time, the landscape was very damaged, the trees were floating in the lake after the fall. Now there has been a succession process that is unpredictable. That is, when life returned to Mount St. Helens, there was a steady increase in species diversity over time. Many species have colonized the disturbed area and others have included occasional colonization.