Primary succession is where lichens move into an area with no soil. They will then create soil and make an ecosystem.
1. Expose the bare rock do to volcanic eruption or glacier. The first step to primary succession is to have a place with bare rock, no soil at all. If there is already soil in place, this would be secondary succession.
2. Pioneer species arrives (like lichen). Lichens basically create soil from rock, they are needed to start an ecosystem.
3. Soil start forming and mosses begin growing
. Now the lichens will begin to create a lot of soil, capable of holding life like moss. There still won't be enough nutrients in the soil for anything more complex at this point.
4. Small plants start to grow. Since the moss is starting to die, it will add nutrients to the soil. After awhile, enough nutrients will be in the soil for small plants to grow.
5. Evergreen trees start growing. Evergreen trees are softwood, which will come before hardwood trees during primary succession.
6. Deciduous trees move in. Deciduous trees, like oaks and maples, are hardwood trees and will come last in primary succession. This is the ideal climax community.
