Question

The conversion of a pond to a climax forest community is an example of:
A. Xerarch succession
B. Mesarch succession
C. Hydrarch succession
D. All of these.

Answer 1

Hint: Ecological succession is the natural progression of a sequence of biotic communities simultaneously located, one after the other until a climax community emerges, that does not change because it is in perfect harmony with the local environment. This change is a parallel change. It is orderly and sequential. During the biotic succession the various biotic communities that develop are termed as seral or transitional communities. From pioneer (first biotic community) to a climax (final biotic community), the sequence of development stages of a biotic community is known as sere.

Complete answer:
Option A Xerarch succession: in a biotic succession, the series of development stages in an arid region is termed as xerosere and the biological succession in that area is known as xerarch succession. The substratum here does not absorb any rain water so there is no water and the bare rocky habitat is extremely hostile to living organisms. The pioneer and climax communities here are the lichens and several hardy, light-demanding trees respectively.
Option A is not correct.
Option B Mesarch succession: The succession which starts from a terrestrial habitat with enough moisture present in the area is known as mesarch succession. Here climax community is a meric forest or a temperate hardwood forest.
Option B is not correct.
Option C Hydrarch succession: The series of biotic communities that develop one after the other in a newly formed lake or pond is known as hydrosere and it starts as soon as the muddy water becomes clear. The pioneer species in hydrarch succession are the minute autotrophic organisms called phytoplankton and soon a balance is created with the appearance of zooplankton which feed on phytoplankton and the climax community is the forest with whole new trees invaded in that area.
Option C is correct.
Option D all of these: The change of pond to climax forest is an example of hydrarch succession.
Option D is not correct.

So, Option C is correct.

Note:
Succession is a natural process that occurs because each biotic community changes the environment of the area that suits another (better surviving) biotic community more than itself. These are of two types, primary and secondary succession. There are a lot of importance of the ecological succession like it is always fixed, dams are protected by preventing siltation and biotic succession to occur, it provides us with the techniques to be used during reforestation and afforestation. It explains how a biotic seral stage, such as grasses and herbs in a pasture, can be maintained by preventing biotic succession from progressing further due to grazing and fire.