QUESTION :I heard that a new Hawaiian island called Loihi is forming.  When can I go there?

              

ANSWER : You can plan a vacation on the island of Loihi in 50,000 years.

All of the Hawaiian islands were formed by volcanoes that began from the ocean floor, with eruptions over millions of years growing each island up to and above the surface of the ocean.  Eighteen miles southeast of the Big Island of Hawaii, there is a new island called Loihi forming, with lava erupting from its peak underwater and building it closer to the ocean surface.  The top of Loihi is still 3000 feet underwater.  It is estimated that it will take another 50,000 years for it to rise up and form dry land for a new Hawaiian island.

   

   

II. Ecological Succession

A. Succession: The gradual replacement of one plant community by another through natural processes over time

B. Primary Succession

1. Begins in a place without any soil a) sides of volcanoes, landslides, retreating

glacier

2. Starts with lichens that do not need soil to survive

a) Lichens=PIONEER SPECIES

http://www.saguaro-juniper.com/

b) Lichens die and decompose, adding nutrients to the rock to make soil [d&d+N2S]

3. Simple plants like mosses and ferns d&d+N2S

http://uisstc.georgetown.edu

http://www.uncw.edu

4. Grasses & wildflowers d&d+N2S

http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu

5. Now shrubs & trees can survive

http://www.rowan.edu

a) Insects, small birds, and mammals move in

C. Secondary Succession

1. Begins in a place that has soil.

a) Once the home of living organisms but

there was a fire, severe freeze, or

deforestation

2. Annuals = Pioneer Species

D. Climax Community: End result of the succession process1. Stable group of plants and animals.

2. Does not always mean big treesa) Grasses in prairies

b) Cacti in deserts

E. Human Activity

1. Succession can be caused by human activity.

a. Global warming glacier retreat (primary)

b. Deforestation land clearing (secondary)

http://www.life.uiuc.edu