Primary/Secondary Succession 36° 25′ 12″ N, 25° 25′ 54″ E

Primary: The eruption of the island Thera in the Mediterranean Sea in 1623 B.C. destroyed the Minoan civilization, changing the coarse of Western civilization. Geological evidence shows the Thera volcano erupted numerous times over several hundred thousand years before the Minoan eruption. Recent research by a team of international scientists in 2006 revealed that the volume of ejecta was approximately 100 km³ placing the Volcanic Explosivity Index of the Thera eruption at 6 or 7.

Secondary: Fire is the cause of much of the secondary succession in the Mediterranean biome. In California, the evidence of secondary succession is that the forests affected by fire grow back relatively quickly because the root systems undisturbed in the soil, stumps and other plant parts from previously existing plants can rapidly regenerate.