7th Grade
Unit 2:
Ecosystems
Lesson 3:
Succession and Equilibrium
Vocabulary of Instruction:
Climax Community
•Is a stable
group of
plants and
animals
that is the
end result
of the
succession
process.
Equilibrium
• Is the condition
of a system in
which competing
influences are
balanced
Pioneer Species
• Are those
organisms,
usually plants,
that colonize
barren rock or
lava during
primary
succession.
• Examples:
Mosses
Lichens
Ferns
weeds
Mosses
Lichens
Ferns
Weeds
Primary
Succession
•Is the earliest phase of
ecosystem development.
Secondary Succession
• Describes the changes in the
kinds of plants and animals
that live in a particular
community over time.
Succession
• Directional, orderly process of
change in a living community in
which the community modifies
the physical environment to
eventually establish an
ecosystem which is as stable as
possible at the site in question.