Tutor profile: Jillian H.

What is succession, what are the types of succession, and how do they differ?

Succession describes how ecosystems are changing and developing overtime. The two types of succession are primary and secondary. Primary succession takes place in an ecosystem that has never been colonized before while secondary succession is takes place in an ecosystem that was disturbed and then recolonized. A main difference between the two forms of succession is the presence of soil in secondary succession and the absence of soil in primary succession.

What is an isotope, what are the Carbon isotopes and what is the difference between them?

Isotopes are forms of the same element that have a different number of neutrons but the same number of protons and electrons. Carbon has 3 isotopes, Carbon 12, Carbon 13, and Carbon 14. Carbon 12 has 6 neutrons, Carbon 13 has 7 neutrons, and Carbon 14 has 8 neutrons. Both Carbon 12 and 13 are stable isotopes while Carbon 14 is unstable.

Describe the population bottleneck, how it changes genetic diversity in populations, and what that means for the population.

The population bottleneck is an event, such as a natural disaster that decreases the size of a population. This leads to a decrease in genetic diversity as many individuals are lost after the bottleneck event, and smaller populations have less genetic diversity. As a result, the remaining population is more susceptible to be wiped out by a disease and more susceptible to accumulating negative mutations.