[File:Secondary Succession.png|thumb|400px|An example of Secondary Succession by stages:
1. A stable state in deciduous forests community
2. A disturbance, such as a wild fire, destroys the forest 3. The fire burns the forest to the ground
4. The fire leaves behind empty, but not destroyed soil
5. Grasses and other herbaceous plants grow back first
6. Small bushes and trees begin to colonize the public area
7. Fast growing evergreen trees and bamboo trees develop to their fullest, while shade-tolerant trees develop in the understory
8. The short-lived and shade intolerant evergreen trees die as the larger deciduous trees overtop them. The ecosystem is now back to a similar state to where it began.]] Secondary succession is one of the two types of ecological succession of plant life. As opposed to the first, primary succession, secondary succession is a process started by an event (e.g. forest fire, harvesting, hurricane) that reduces an already established ecosystem (e.g. a forest or a wheat field) to a smaller population of species, and as such secondary succession occurs on preexisting soil whereas primary succession usually occurs in a place lacking soil.