Double Click on this and type in your name and class period Ecological Succession Interactive Objective: In this webquest, you will discover and explore the process of primary and secondary ecological succession and apply your new knowledge through a series of interactive ecological succession activities. Use the following link to complete the Ecological Succession Interactive by BiomanBio. https://biomanbio.com/HTML5GamesandLabs/EcoGames/succession_interactive.html A. Click on Start a New Game. Then click the Primary Succession Tab. Press Continue to move through the activity. Answer the questions in the boxes on the right as you interact with the simulation. 1. The changes in species composition in an area over time is called what? Succession. 2. When succession happens in a place with no life or soil, is it Primary succession. primary or secondary succession? B. Click on each producer organism and answer the following questions. *WAIT to add them to island. Lichen your Symbiotic mutualism. 3. What type of mutualism do algae and fungi have? 4. Why can lichen grow on bare rock? Mosses Lichen can grow on bare rock because the fungus has the ability to anchor to the rock and break it down little by little with acids it makes. Moss anchor onto things with structures called rhizoids. 5. How do moss anchor onto things? 6. How does having little soil be beneficial to moss? Having a little soil can be beneficial to mosses because it helps them get attached to the ground. Its basically like glue for them. Grasses The roots of grasses that are responsible for digging into the soil to extract water and any necessary nutrients. 7. Describe the roots of grasses. 8. What are grasses a good source for? Grasses are a good source for herbivores, which are organisms that eat plants only. Bushes Bushes need relatively deep soil in order to thrive. 9. What type of soil do bushes need to thrive? Flowers 10. Why are flowering plants important? 11. What do flowering plants need in order to reproduce? Trees 12. How do trees affect smaller plants? 13. What do trees provide habitat for? Flowering plants are important because they are a food source in many ecosystems. Flowering plants need to be pollinated by animals in order to reproduce. Trees affect smaller plants because being that trees are very tall, they create a shade over smaller plants and this makes it more difficult for smaller plants to compete for the sunlights that they need to survive. Trees also for compete with small plants over water and Trees provide habitat many types of animals. An example aresoil. eagles. C. Consumers - click on the different types of consumers, and answer the questions below. Pollinators Double Click on this and type in your name and class period 14. What are pollinators critical to? Pollinators are critical to the survival of many flowering plants. Primary Consumers 15. How do primary consumers make the soil more fertile? Primary consumers make soil more fertile by producing waste products. Secondary Consumers 16. How do secondary consumers help the ecosystem? Secondary consumers help the ecosystem because they eat primary consumers and this helps control the populations of primary consumers. D. Choose your pioneer species and try to build a successful climax ecosystem. Keep trying until you are successful. As you move through this part of the activity, answer the following questions. 17. What is a pioneer species? A pioneer species is the first species to colonize an area. 18. Why are lichen a great pioneer species? Lichen are great pioneer species, because they can grow on bare rock. Mosses help sucession by continuing to build up soil. 19. How do mosses help succession? 20. Why do grasses spread rapidly? 21. What do the grasses outcompete the mosses for? 22. What do flowering plants need to be pollinated by? 23. What is the stable community that will remain on your island for a very long time called? 24. What does primary succession start with? 25. What does primary succession end with? Grasses spread rapidly because the seeds are distributed by being dropped by some birds passing by, Grasses outcompete the mosses for sunlight and other resources and begin to dominate. Flowering plants need to be pollinated by animals. Climax community. Primary succession starts with pioneer species such as lichen. Primary succesion ends with tertiary consumers which are the last components of the climax community. E. Click on Return to Main Menu and then click on the Secondary Succession tab. 26. What triggers secondary succession on the island? Natural disasters such as fire. 27. What is the process of rebuilding a community that is disrupted called? Secondary succession. 28. Why can your pioneer species be different in secondary succession? Your pioneer species can be different in secondary succession because soil is already present. Therefore, there is no need to begin with a pioneer species like lichen because lichen helps make soil and there is no need for that. The perfect pioneer species for my island was grass. 29. What was the perfect pioneer species for your island? 32. Why are tree seeds already on the island? Flowers can rapidly germinate because there was life on my island and soil was still present. Therefore, flower seeds can germinate in the nutrient-rich soil. Bushes populate the island after grasses and flowering plants because they need relatively deep soil to thrive. They also take longer to become established than smaller plants. Tree seeds are already on the island because the trees that were burned left behind many seeds. 33. What is secondary succession? Secondary succession is the rebuilding of a community after it is disrupted. 30. Why can flowers rapidly germinate? 31. Why do bushes populate the island after grasses and flowering plants? When you have completely finished these questions, please click the link below to take the quiz: Succession Interactive Quiz - NOT OPTIONAL!
