Ecological
Succession:
Temperate
Coniferous
Forest
By: Jane Doe
Mrs. Zerbi
Period 8
The biome focus is the
Temperate Coniferous
Forest.
They are typically found in the northern
hemisphere and northern latitudes as
well as in mountainous areas, such as
the Rocky Mountains, Alps and Ural
Mountain ranges.
Organisms that you may
find are: Elk. Bears, Wolves, Deer,
Rabbits, Cougars, Beaver, Pine Trees,
and Ferns.
The biome is located in the United
States, Canada, several parts of
Europe and Russia.
The largest threat to this beautiful ecosystem
other than habitat destruction due to human
activity is wildfires.
The aftermath of a wildfire looks like this:
Wildfires are naturally occurring and often
happen with lightening strikes and drought
conditions. In Colorado for example, the pine
beetles have already killed many trees and
have left the forest vulnerable to wildfire
destruction. Every year this happens in
California, but one of the worst disasters
happened in Yellowstone National Park.
Russia had similar problems three years ago
with significant damage to ecosystems there.
Organisms left: Not much would be left. The
area would not be suitable for life without
plants to provide food.
Organisms that may be present after
secondary ecological succession begins
include: small plants, weeds and some
insects.
This process begins with small plants
and insects re-introducing themselves
into the coniferous forest ecosystem.
The fire will leave nutrients behind and
in fact will allow some seeds to open
for new growth which is possible since
soil is already present. At this time we
are still looking at low biodiversity.
Over half of the biodiversity has come
back to the forest by the time we get to
the third stage. We will see some
smaller mammals such as mice,
squirrels and rabbits enter the area as
well as birds and most insects are back.
Here we start to see bushes and small
trees, mostly saplings. This provides
more habitats for more animals.
Plants have quickly moved in and are
taking up areas with a lot of sunlight
previously covered in shade from the
trees. This is a highly competitive time
for plants and animals as they
continue to populate the area.
Organisms in this stage have all
returned including some of your larger
animals like elk, deer, wolves, bears,
buffalo, and birds of prey such as the
eagle.
This is the last stage of succession
where you have a complete selfsustaining ecosystem that is in
equilibrium. All the biodiversity has
returned which is important for the
likelihood of an ecosystem rebounding
after a natural catastrophe. By this
point all the producers, consumers and
decomposers have returned.