Starting+and+Restarting+in+a+Estuary

 Starting and Restarting in an Estuary  Succession is one type of plant changing the environment and making it better for another type of plant, which then takes over the original plant. There are two types of succession in an ecosystem primary and secondary. Primary succession is when the environment has to start from nothing and secondary is when parts of an existing ecosystem are removed and the ecosystem starts over. In the San Francisco Bay Estuary, primary succession starts the phytoplankton and zooplankton. As the populations of these organisms grow, they enrich the water and the estuary can then begin to support other aquatic plants because of the nutrients added. Secondary succession is when the phytoplankton has already been established and something happens to the other plants that kill them. The aquatic plants can then come back because even though they were destroyed the water is still enriched by the phytoplankton, which are still there. media type="file" key="chp7100_300k.wmv" width="300" height="300"

Succession also happens in the salt marshes of the estuary. The water is initially too deep and salty for most plants to grow, except for the Pacific Cordgrass. The Pacific Cordgrass elevates the soil and enriches it with nutrients by adding its’ own debris. Other saltgrasses and rushes then replace the Pacific Cordgrass because the new plants are better suited for the environment created by the Pacific Cordgrass. 