Skip to content
Skip to main content
header search
The Open University
The Open University OpenLearn
Menu
sticky search
Science, Maths & Technology
Featured content
Free courses
All content

About this free course

Become an OU student

Download this course

Share this free course

Course content Course content
Fire ecology
Fire ecology

Start this free course now. Just create an account and sign in. Enrol and complete the course for a free statement of participation or digital badge if available.

More free courses
The diagram shows six stages of ecological succession starting on the left and proceeding to the right. Time is represented by a horizontal arrow from left to right. Each stage of succession is illustrated by a drawing of the type of vegetation that would be found at that stage. At the first stage there is bare rock, at the second stage there are mosses and grasses, at the third stage there are grasses and perennials, at the fourth stage woody pioneers are in evidence, at the fifth stage fast-growing trees have appeared; at the sixth and final stage there is a climax forest. Above the drawings of the six stages are a series of lines depicting the increase in abundance of habitat as the stages proceed so that at the first stage, bare rock predominates with no vegetation present. This is gradually replaced by mosses and grasses at stage 2 and then at stage 3 grasses and perennials appear, followed by woody plants, fast-growing trees and then larger trees. So, at stage 6 the climax forest consists of a complex mixture of vegetation.
Figure 21  Diagrammatic representation of forest succession over time. There is a steady increase in biodiversity, biomass and thickness of soil layer as succession proceeds, i.e. as time passes.

◄ 4.1 Fire and ecological succession