Secondary Succession

secondary succession, type of ecological succession (the evolution of a biological community’s ecological structure) in which plants and animals recolonize a habitat after a major disturbance—such as a devastating flood, wildfire, landslide, lava flow, or human activity (e.g., farming or road or building construction)—significantly alters an area but has not rendered it completely lifeless. Secondary succession is distinguished from primary succession, in which a biological community develops where no life had existed previously.

ecological disturbance caused by forest fire

Secondary succession takes place where a disturbance did not eliminate all life and nutrients from the environment. Although fire, flooding, and other disturbances may bring visible ruin to a landscape, drive out many plants and animals, and set back the biological community to an earlier stage, the habitat is not lifeless, because the soil retains nutrients and seeds that were set down before the disturbance occurred. Buried seeds can sprout shortly after the effects of the disturbance pass, and some may have greater success from reduced competition and reduced shading. Some species may be adapted to the frequent passage of a particular disturbance. For example, the jack pine (Pinus banksiana), a tree species common in the northeastern U.S. and Canada, requires heat from a wildfire to open its cones (strobili) before seeds can be spread for new growth.

Sometimes, however, catastrophic disturbances, such as massive volcanic eruptions or advancing glaciers, effectively eliminate all the biological activity in the area. In such cases, any seeds that survive the disturbance are covered with large amounts of ash, rock, or ice, which isolates them from the area’s future development, and thus the area can return to life only though the process of primary succession.

The stages of secondary succession are similar to those of primary succession in that pioneer species that arrive in the cleared area slowly give way to a community of intermediate species over many years before a climax community can become established. Insects and weedy plants (frequently from surrounding ecosystems) are often the first to recolonize the disturbed area, and these species are in turn replaced by hardier plants and animals. If the area remains undisturbed, the biological community’s ecological structure and species composition can stabilize.