The series of changes that occur after a disturbance of an existing ecosystem.

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The series of changes that occur after a disturbance of an existing ecosystem.

Secondary succession is the series of changes in species composition that follows a disturbance to an existing ecosystem when the soil remains. Because the soil and some organisms survive, recolonization happens more rapidly: early successional species like grasses and forbs establish, modify the environment, and pave the way for shrubs and later for trees, eventually approaching a stable, mature community. This process differs from primary succession, which starts on bare rock after a disturbance that destroys soil. The other terms describe separate ideas: pioneer species are the first colonizers during succession; a trophic cascade refers to how changes at one level ripple through the food chain; and keystone species are organisms with a disproportionately large effect on community structure, not the stepwise pattern of recovery after disturbance.

Secondary succession is the series of changes in species composition that follows a disturbance to an existing ecosystem when the soil remains. Because the soil and some organisms survive, recolonization happens more rapidly: early successional species like grasses and forbs establish, modify the environment, and pave the way for shrubs and later for trees, eventually approaching a stable, mature community. This process differs from primary succession, which starts on bare rock after a disturbance that destroys soil. The other terms describe separate ideas: pioneer species are the first colonizers during succession; a trophic cascade refers to how changes at one level ripple through the food chain; and keystone species are organisms with a disproportionately large effect on community structure, not the stepwise pattern of recovery after disturbance.

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