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Plant succession on Krakatau:
•Blue-green bacteriathen ferns (the pioneer species) followed by grasses and shrubs. Next came mixed woodland (small trees) and finally the climax community of tropical rainforest (tall hardwood trees)
Plant Succession on Mt.St Helens:
Lichens
Prairie lupine (Lupinus lepidus)
On Krakatoa and Mount St. Helens, organisms colonized the barren land using several mechanisms.
These included:
Example of Primary succession
Lava field, Rangito Island
Pinus ponderosa (Pinus ponderosa)
Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
Corpse flower (Rafflesia arnoldii)
Sumatran Pine (Pinus merkusii)
•Mount St.Helens is situated in south-west Washington State. It erupted catastrophically on 18 May 1980 and devastated the surrounding environment from up to 18 km north of crater.
Agarwood (Aquilaria malaccensis)
Mangroves
• Krokatoa is a volcanic island is found between the islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. It erupted in 1883, causing massive tsunamis, killing thousands. The explosion is considered to be the loudest sound ever heard in modern history, with reports of it being heard up to 4,800 km from its point of origin.
Effects of eruption produced a landscape with low nutrient availability, intense drought, and frequent surface movements involving erosion. These spurred a wide range of conditions for “vegetative recolonisation”.
When a biological community through the process of ecological succession has reached a steady state. This equilibrium occurs because the climax community is composed of species best adapted to average conditions in that area.
However, in both cases wildlife returned to the areas, through successful plant and animal colonisation.
The climax vegitation cover of Krokatoa
is that of a tropical rainforest. It consists of
the Sumatran Pine. a large hardwood tree, and is a habitat for animals such as the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii).
Since the eruption was fairly recent (1980),
there hasn't been enough time for a climax community to be fully established. However, the area is gradually returning to its natural state; shrubs and small trees have started growing and wildlife, such as deer and elk, have returned.
Spiders released silken threads into the wind and took to the air, floating over miles of open water. The monitor lizard and the reticulated python swam to the island. Bats and birds flew to the island. Larger animals: mammals, amphibians, and reptiles, used logs and floating debris as rafts.
Plants and insects attracted birds, deer, and elk from nearby areas. Some animals survived in underground burrows, and were able to recolonise. Ponds and springs created bythe eruption became the centers of life for survivors and colonizers.
On Krakatau there are now over 400 species of vascular plants, thousands of species and arthropods, over 30 species of birds, 18 species of land molluscs, 17 species of bats and 9 reptiles.