What is Secondary Succession?

Secondary succession is a type of ecological succession that occurs in places disturbed by major events like floods, landslides, or human activities but is not entirely devoid of life. In this process of succession, plants and animals re-establish themselves in the destroyed ecosystem.

• Even though events like fire or floods may cause visible damage and revert the biological community to the previous stage, the soil still contains nutrients from before the disturbance. 
• The key difference between secondary succession and primary succession is that secondary succession involves some existing remnants of soil, whereas primary succession begins on the ground without any soil precursors.
• Secondary succession involves less competition for resources compared to primary succession. Unlike primary succession, which starts with a scarcity of resources, secondary succession starts with ample resource availability.
• The primary sources of energy for plants in this ecological process come from existing remnants in the soil, including decomposed organic material, inorganic salts, humus, and more.
• Secondary succession always follows after primary succession has taken place. The presence of a remnant substrate or precursor is important for the initiation of secondary succession.
• Secondary succession takes a shorter time than primary succession because soil, nutrients, and other biotic organisms are already present within the substrate.