5.4 - How do communities and ecosystems respond to changing environmental conditions?

Question 1

What is Primary Succession?

Answer 1

The gradual establishment of biotic communities in lifeless areas where there is no soil in a terrestrial ecosystem or no bottom sediment in an aquatic ecosystem.

Question 2

What is Secondary Succession?

Answer 2

A series of communities or ecosystems with different species develop in places containing soil or bottom sediment.

Question 3

What does Inertia/Persistence refer to?

Answer 3

The ability of a living system, such as a grassland or a forest, to survive moderate disturbances.

Question 4

What is Resilience in ecological terms?

Answer 4

The ability of a living system to be restored through secondary succession after a moderate disturbance.

Question 5

What is a Tipping Point?

Answer 5

Where any additional stress can cause the system to change in an abrupt and usually irreversible way that often involves collapse.