Ecology 4

As the stages of succession progress from primary succession to secondary succession, R-strategists life-forms such as insects will thrive in the beginning but will be met with changes in biodiversity from K-strategists that will become predators and such to balance out the community in the ecosystem. The life here would probably be based more on a logistical growth rate graph rather than exponential since a carrying capacity will then be established in this environment full of plants and trees for other species. As time passes there will bound to be natural disasters such as floods, droughts, and fires acting to clear some parts of the area and change the soil in terms of nutrients; which also causes change in the abiotic conditions in the environment. This area may experience more sunlight in the beginning allowing plants, grasses, and shrubs to have more time for photosynthesis processes and therefore grow into pine trees and hardwood trees in which both R and K-strategists will use to their advantage. This can be explained as when starting out, insects and small rodents would get energy from grass and shrubs but then sooner or later others like deer and bears will take advantage of the larger trees when they develop. Density independent factors such as natural disasters will also change abiotic conditions. Soil for one, will accumulate a lot of nutrients from organisms that die and then decompose. As plants gain these nutrients, they will probably have a better root system, be more effective in nitrogen fixation, and have better root systems to absorb water.
After a volcano erupts and destroys the 10 square kilometer portion of a mature forest, many animals will die and the lava will burn trees to the ground. The short-term effects are that the ecological niches from before in the food chain and web as well as trophic levels will change. Long term effects are that it will take more time for the ecosystem there to recover. The soil will be damaged but then...