question_answer

Define ecological succession. Give four differences between seral stage and climax community during succession.

OR

Write an account of habitat fragmentation and its effect on biodiversity.

 

Answer:

Ecological succession is the successive development of different biotic communities at the same site. The communities develop one after another till the development of a community which is near equilibrium with the environmental conditions.
S.No.	Seral Stage	Climax Community
1.	It is the sequential replacement and establishment of species in the process of succession.	It is the community, which gets established at the terminal stage of succession.
2.	The   species   composition changes from time to time.	The species are stable and species con-position do not change.
3.	Simple food chains and food webs are found.	Complex food chains and food webs are found.
4.	Biomass is comparatively less than climax community.	Increases in total bio mass.
OR
Habitat fragmentation implies fragmentation of an organism habitat, which leads to loss of population living in that habitat as well. It may occur naturally by geological processes and can also be caused by the human activities.
Human activities which causes habitat fragmentation are land conversion, construction of roads and highways, agriculture, urbanisation, etc.
Habitat fragmentation is a major cause of biodiversity loss. It reduces the species richness and also effects the ecosystem functioning. It disturbs the dynamics of the species distribution. It reduces the total habitat size and splits the population. The sub-population might not survive due to low number. Habitat fragmentation also affects the relationship among the species. Fragmentation accelerates the process of extinction.