Ecological succession breaks down into three fundamental phases: primary and secondary succession, and a climax state. The study of ecological succession generally focuses on the plants present on a particular site.

Primary succession begins in barren areas, such as on bare rock exposed by a retreating glacier. The first inhabitants are lichens or plants—those that can survive in such an environment. Over hundreds of years these “pioneer species” convert the rock into soil that can support simple plants such as grasses.

Primary succession occurs in essentially lifeless areas—regions in which the soil is incapable of sustaining life as a result of such factors as lava flows, newly formed sand dunes, or rocks left from a retreating glacier.

Secondary succession occurs when the severity of disturbance is insufficient to remove all the existing vegetation and soil from a site. Many different kinds of disturbances, such as fire, flooding, windstorms, and human activities (e.g., logging of forests) can initiate secondary succession.

Examples of Primary Succession

• Volcanic eruptions.
• Retreat of glaciers.
• Flooding accompanied by severe soil erosion.
• Landslides.
• Nuclear explosions.
• Oil spills.
• Abandonment of a manmade structure, such as a paved parking lot.

In primary succession, newly exposed or newly formed rock is colonized by living things for the first time. In secondary succession, an area previously occupied by living things is disturbed—disrupted—then recolonized following the disturbance.

Succession can happen even in mature or climax communities. For example, when a tree falls in a mature forest, sunlight may again be able to reach the forest floor, which would allow new growth to begin. In this case, succession would begin with new smaller plants. Communities are always changing and growing.

Succession in a Sentence 🔉

1. When William married the former prostitute, he was removed from the line of succession to the throne.
2. The prince’s child is third in the line of succession to be king.
3. During the succession battle to be ruler, two brothers fought against each other.

formal : a person who believes that he or she has a right to something (such as an amount of money) : a person who claims something. See the full definition for claimant in the English Language Learners Dictionary. claimant. noun. claim·​ant | / ˈklā-mənt /

The general meaning of the word, succession, is the process of following another. As a legal terminology, succession means taking the rights of another as his or her successor. It usually denotes the transmission of rights and obligations of the deceased to his legal heirs.

The process of succession may be further classified into three distinct classes. In the order of what takes priority over the other, these are: Compulsory Succession, Testamentary Succession, and Intestate Succession.

two to six months

The principle of faunal succession, also known as the law of faunal succession, is based on the observation that sedimentary rock strata contain fossilized flora and fauna, and that these fossils succeed each other vertically in a specific, reliable order that can be identified over wide horizontal distances.

William Smith