Successional Changes and Human Activity
Succession is a sequence of biotic changes that regenerate a damaged community or start a community in a previously uninhabited area.
- Primary Succession: the establishment and development of an ecosystem in an area that was previously uninhabited. The first organisms to live here are called, "pioneer species"
- Secondary Succession: a disturbance that halts the progress of succession or destroys an established community.
Affect on Seals and Their Environment:
- Seals live in the tundra biome, near the ocean. They live in the cooler regions of the tundra, (the arctic tundra) which consist of ice, snow, and glaciers.
- When the land in the arctic tundra starts to get warmer the glaciers, ice, and snow retreat, it starts to melt, leaving the earth looking lifeless, rocky, and plain.
- It took a long time for the pioneer species, lichens, to grow in the cracks of the rocks.
- When the lichen decays it forms a small amount of soil, as time passes the tundra consisted of small amounts of grass, soil, and plants.
- New plants and animals have come to this new environment.
- Seals are not used to this environment consisting of slightly warmer temperatures and new animals that can likely become predators towards the seals.
- The seals still live in the shoreline where it is still cold and icy. Their habitat can change and affect their lifestyle.
Human Activity:
- Humans have came to the seal's habitat leaving more than just footprints.
- Fuel drums, which are containers that hold fuel, has been found in Antarctica which may be harmful to the seals if the seals get near the fuel drums.
- Global Warming has caused the icy part of the Tundra to melt causing loss of habitat.
- A factor of global warming consists of man-made things such as factories and cars which makes the greenhouse effect unstable.
- Seals love to lay out in the sun but they also love cooler temperatures.
- Humans also tend to hunt for seals for their skin and meat.
- Besides hunting for seals, they also take most of the seal's food by fishing for fish, shrimp, and more.
- UV Radiation may impact the producers of the food chain affecting animals such as the seals that feeds on the animals that rely on the producers as food.
- A positive impact of human activity would be their awareness for the protection of seals limiting the amount of seals being killed. Seals are no longer endangered!