A landslide in the Oregon Cascades causes all the soil in a 30-meter by 300-meter section of a mountain to fall away,taking the trees and their roots and all other vegetation with it.Within three years,however,lichens and some small herbaceous plants can be seen on the surface of the remaining rock.This is an example of:

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This scenario is an example of primary succession, which is the process of new life colonizing an area where there was no soil or living organisms before. The fact that lichens and small plants are starting to grow on the remaining rock suggests that a new ecosystem is gradually developing. Secondary succession occurs in areas where there was previously an ecosystem that was disrupted or destroyed, but some soil and living organisms still remain. A climax community is a stable, mature community that has reached a state of equilibrium in terms of population size and species composition. Facilitation refers to the process by which one species makes the environment more suitable for another species to grow. It is part of the mechanisms that drive primary succession.

A Landslide in the Oregon Cascades Causes All the Soil