Primary succession

Communities experience many types of disturbance
Removal of  keystone species, spread of invasive species, natural disturbances
Human impacts cause major changes

* Resistance = community of organisms resists change and remains stable despite the disturbance

* Resilience = a community changes in response to a disturbance, but later returns to its original state

* Succession = the predictable series of changes in a community following a disturbance

** Primary succession = disturbance eliminates all vegetation and/or soil life

** Secondary succession = a disturbance dramatically alters, but does not destroy, all local organisms

Primary succession: Glaciers, drying lakes, volcanic lava

Pioneer species = the first species to arrive in a primary succession area (ex, lichens)