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Xerosere is a plant succession that is limited by water availability. It includes the different stages in a xerarch succession. Xerarch succession of ecological communities originated in extremely dry situation such as sand deserts, sand dunes, salt deserts, rock deserts etc. A xerosere may include lithoseres (on rock) and psammoseres (on sand ...
A lithosere (a sere originating on rock) is a plant succession that begins life on a newly exposed rock surface, such as one left bare as a result of glacial retreat, tectonic uplift as in the formation of a raised beach, or volcanic eruptions.
One example of primary succession takes place after a volcano has erupted. The lava flows into the ocean and hardens into new land. The resulting barren land is first colonized by pioneer organisms, like algae, which pave the way for later, less hardy plants, such as hardwood trees, by facilitating pedogenesis, especially through the biotic acceleration of weathering and the addition of ...
Some lichens grow on rocks without soil, so may be among the first of life forms, and break down the rocks into soil for plants. [11] Since some uninhabited land may have thin, poor quality soils with few nutrients, pioneer species are often hardy plants with adaptations such as long roots, root nodes containing nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and leaves that employ transpiration.
Like in plants, microbial succession can occur in newly available habitats (primary succession) such as surfaces of plant leaves, recently exposed rock surfaces (i.e., glacial till) or animal infant guts, [29] and also on disturbed communities (secondary succession) like those growing in recently dead trees, decaying fruits, [39] or animal ...
At the beginning of soil formation, the bare rock outcrops are gradually colonized by pioneer species (lichens and mosses). [4] They are succeeded by herbaceous vegetation, shrubs, and finally forest. In parallel, the first humus-bearing horizon is formed (the A horizon), followed by some mineral horizons (B horizons).
The bare rock is exposed by glaciers or volcanic eruptions. II. Lichens and moss begin to grow on the rock. III. As the lichens and moss die, they decompose, which creates the first organic soil. The rock will slowly decay, and the soil depth will increase as the organisms in the following steps die and decompose. IV. The lichens and grass grow ...
Catherine Keever (September 8, 1908 - May 9, 2003) was an educator and ecologist focused on ecological succession and highland region ecology. Keever proved that moss is the first plant to grow on bald rock, rather than lichens.