ie/objects/succession-steady.html

Community Succession to a Steady State

Community metabolism includes

gross productivity - new growth being added

community respiration - the amount of biomass being used up to support the community processes

net productivity - the accumulation of biomass after respiration

 

Succession processes

primary succession from bare ground to mature forest

conditions change with biological influences

biological mass (biomass) increases

plants

soil

new organisms come in that are better suited to the emerging environment

Community size increases

if net productivity is > 0 then there will be more biomass with time

total community respiration increases with biomass

eventually, the community respiration will equal the community productivity

no further net growth

Systems diagram of this process