| SUCCESSION |
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| The processes of succession
are at work everywhere. Sometimes these changes happen quickly, over one or two
years, and looking back we notice the change. Sometimes the processes
of succession operate over a very long period of time, maybe thousands of years.
All communities are the result of succession. Natural communities once started as
bare rock. Slowly the rock weathered to make soil, and elementary plants colonized
the barren ground. Over time more soil accumulated and
larger plants and higher organisms moved onto the site. Natural sucession is also
responsible for changing ecosystems from wet to dry and dry to
wet. Human communities are constantly undergoing successional processes as
well. People move to and leave neighborhoods, political and economic factors
force changes, and new houses are built while others are abandoned. Let's look at an abandoned property in West Philadelphia to see how the processes of succession are at work in an urban neighborhood. |
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REFERENCES
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