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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 4 page overview of ecological succession as it occurs on glacial moraines. The author emphasizes the importance of lower species such as lichens, mosses, and bacteria. The crushed rock composing the moraines offers little in terms of nutrients to
support more complex species. The job of the initial colonizers thus becomes one not only of gaining a toehold to support their own propagation
but also of creating biomass to ultimately allow the establishment of more demanding species. Bibliography lists 5 species.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: AM2_PPenvSuc.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
a barren landscape in terms of the plants and animals that live there. During periods of stabilization, however, the moraine shoals that the glaciers created (a type of debris
line formed by the rocks scoured from the terrain as the glacier passed) quickly become a place of biological colonization (U.S. Department of Forestry, 2004). Their seeds, and spores
carried in by the wind, the lower plants such as the lichens and mosses are among the first pioneers into the bleak and largely inhospitable environment provided by the moraine
(U.S. Department of Forestry, 2004). The crushed rock composing the moraines offers little in terms of nutrients to support more complex species (U.S. Department of Forestry, 2004). The
job of the initial colonizers thus becomes one not only of gaining a toehold to support their own propagation but also of creating biomass to ultimately allow the establishment of
more demanding species. The result is a natural progression of species from what is a relatively simplistic ecological balance to a more complex one.
The U.S. Department of Forestry (2004) succinctly summarizes that as the lichen and moss establish colonies upon the exposed rock of the moraines:
"the rebirth of the temperate rainforest begins, with alder, willow, cottonwood, spruce and hemlock systematically reclaiming the land
they inhabited before the most recent glacial advance. Glacial debris, poor in nutrients, depends on flowering lupine, decomposing alder leaves, and alder root nodules to fix nitrogen into the developing
soil. Overshadowed by cottonwood and spruce, decaying alder adds additional fertilizer to the forest floor, while hemlock ultimately rises to close the canopy, shading out most spruce and creating an
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