Question

Determine whether the following disturbances will be followed by primary or secondary succession.

In coastal areas, wind moves sand, blowing away or engulfing the soil, and eventually creating sand dunes:

Answer 1

Primary succession.

Reason: the wind-formed sand dunes create essentially new, bare substrate with little or no soil or established biota. Pioneer species (e.g., beach grasses like Ammophila, microbes, and later mosses/lichens and herbaceous plants) colonize and build organic matter and soil, allowing later successional stages (shrubs, then trees).