A climax community is considered the end of ecological succession.A climax community can, however, be reverted to a successional stages from new disturbances and environmental conditions. Essentially it is a never ending process when longer geological time scales are applied. This is true despite the complete recovery of the community’s structure. Examples of quickly forming climax communities are the short-grass and long-grass prairies of the Great Plains of the United States.Henri Bauholz is a professional writer covering a variety of topics, including hiking, camping, foreign travel and nature. This creates a layered community for organisms to thrive in. But animal populations also shift over time in response to the changing habitat.We Have More Great Sciencing Articles!Climax communities are relatively stable and can vary widely in a given region, especially when the landscape consists of high mountains and low valleys. Along with the successful colonization of plants come animals such as insects, birds and small invertebrates. The disturbance of an existing habitat – fires, deforestation, land clearance. Some mutualistic animal and plant interactions prove to rebound despite the changes caused by forest fragmentation.We Have More Great Sciencing Articles!The Earth is a dynamic place, affected by natural and manmade causes that induce changes to plant communities over time. As ecologists learn more about the process of succession, they can better manage ecosystems to try and prevent environmental disturbances.As primary succession begins, there is no soil at all. The study of ecological succession generally focuses on the plants present on a particular site. The stages of primary succession include pioneer microorganisms, plants (lichens and mosses), grassy stage, smaller shrubs, and trees. Animal species can return to something resembling a mature forest within 20 to 30 years post-disturbance. Most ecosystems, however, experience disturbances -- either natural events such as wildfires or flooding, or man-caused events such as logging -- that set back the progress of succession.An ecosystem undergoes many intermediate stages of succession. In such cases, the final biological matrix of plants and animals can cover vast tracts of land or be limited to a very small pocket within the landscape. Any disturbance threatens species diversity. Ecological succession describes a typically natural change over time of species within a community or ecosystem.
Succession is a scientific term describing the long-term progression of biological communities that occurs in a given area. This term describes the process in which an established community is replaced by a different set of plants and animals.