 Bare,
inorganic a-biotic surface
becomes available for colonization
› Pioneers: typically r-selected species
 Stage
2 colonization: Pioneers
colonize the area first.
› Simple soil starts from windblown dust and
mineral particles.

Stage 3 establishment: Species diversity increases.
Invertebrate species begin to visit and live in the
soil, increasing organic material content and
water-holding capacity.
› Weathering enriches soil with nutrients.

Stage 4 competition: Microclimate continues to change as
new species colonize. Larger plants increase cover and
provide shelter, enabling K-selected species to become
established.
› Temperatures, sun and wind are less extreme
› Earlier pioneer r-species are unable to compete with Kspecies for space, nutrients or light and are lost from the
community.
› There is a decrease in r-species due to competition
because of improved conditions for k-species.

Stage 5 stabilization:
› Complex food webs develop.
› Fewer new species
› K-species have longer life cycles and delayed
reproduction which attributes to stabilization.

Climax:
› Stable community/state of dynamic equilibrium
› Climatic climax community:
 Maximum possible development reached that
environmental conditions allow.
• As the new stages occur,
the amount of organisms
increase which in turn
increase the amount of
mineral content in the
environment.
The storage
spaces at the
beginning of
succession are
smaller, so mineral
cycling is generally
faster. As the
storage spaces
become larger,
the minerals take
longer to cycle
through, so the
speed of cycling
decreases.
Stage 0- Starts with no net
productivity because there is
only bare rock
Stage 1- As the number of
organisms increase, there is
an increase on net
productivity
Stage 3- As the number of
organisms increase even
more, more respiration
occurs, so the net
productivity decreases,
because more energy is
being respired away.
Stage 5- There is a limit to the
number of organisms able to
live in one ecosystem, thus
the net productivity stabilizes
after reaching an optimum
number of organisms, thus
constant respiration
Stage 0- Starts with no gross
productivity because there is
only bare rock
Stage 1- As the number of
organisms increase, there is
an increase on gross
productivity
Stage 5- The ecosystem has
reached a point of
saturation in gross
productivity, and
productivity does not
increase nor decrease
significantly over time
•Starts with no diversity because there is only bare rock
•The diversity of R-Strategists increase quicker than the diversity of KStrategists
•As the diversity of r-strategists increase, there is also an increase in the
diversity of K-Strategists
•The diversity of K-Strategists increase, and start to consume the RStrategists, thus lessening the diversity of the R-Strategists
•Levels out eventually, as everything stablizes
AC, Chris, Tae Wan, Lucas, Michael, Ryuya, Anil and Fausti
Bare, inorganic Surface:
It is a mostly lifeless environment. The deep waters created by the
lack of sediments cause a lack of light in the environment, which
leads to no rooted plants being present. As plants photosynthesize to
create oxygen needed for maintaining life, this environment can not
support many organisms. The soil is nutrient poor, leading to less life
being present. Any life present is mostly r-selected species, which
have short life cycles, small size, rapid growth, and the production of
many off springs. IN the case of this environment they are mostly
micro-organisms and phytoplankton.
Stage 1: Phytoplankton stage
Occurs when dirt and soil sediments settle on the bottom surface –
making it possible for simple pioneers to colonize and prosper. These
sediments come from spores that are carried by the air to the body
of water.
Seral Stage 2&3:
This is a stage where vegetation in the deep freshwater. Grass and
weeds start to grow, which starts depositing sediments on the bottom
floor of the deep freshwater. As the hydrosere’s stages approach
stage 3, weeds and grasses start to grow more rapidly and it results to
more silt stacking up on top of each other.
Stage 4
Fewer species inhabit as plants that have et their grown grow out as new
species get pushed out. Complex food webs develop as K-selected species
inhabit the waters.
Stage 5
-Final
Seral stage or climax community which is at a steady
state
- Dynamic equilibrium
- It is the maximum possible development a community can
reach under prevailing environmental conditions.
- It is called a climatic climax community