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Unit 1 Introduction To Disturbance Ecology

Disturbance Ecology

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30 views36 pages

Unit 1 Introduction To Disturbance Ecology

Disturbance Ecology

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lebripenera
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Disturbance Ecology:

Introduction
Ecosystems
• Ecosystems are dynamic and are not in
continuous balance.
• Thus, they keep on changing.
• Changes in nature can either be natural or
human-induced.
• Ecosystem structure, species composition and
ecosystem functioning keep on changing.
• These changes can either be gradual or can
happen over a short time period.
• These changes are seen as disturbances.
• Disturbances are actually needed to maintain
the biodiversity of the planet.
• Disturbances lead to subsequent changes in
ecosystems called succession.
Ecological Disturbance: Definitions
• Any separate event that directly or indirectly
disrupts community structure.
 Disruption can involve:
 removing organisms from a community
 influencing availability of resources (such as
food and space)
 bringing about change in the physical
environment
Ecological Disturbance: Definitions
• An event of intense environmental stress
causing large changes in the affected
ecosystem.
• “Relatively discrete event in time and space
that alters the structure of populations,
communities, and ecosystems and/or changes
resources, substrate availability, or the
physical environment.” adapted from White &
Pickett (1985), Walker (1999)
• According to Sousa (1984) it could be:
– a discrete, punctuated killing, displacement or
damaging of one or more individuals (or colonies)
that directly or indirectly creates an opportunity
for new individuals (or colonies) to become
established.
Examples of disturbance
Examples
• Physical stressors such as
– Volcanic eruptions
– Earth quakes
– Tornados
– Glacial advances or retreats over geological time
scale
– Human induced – wildfires some can start due to
lightning
– Even pollution (air, water, soil), heat, or damming of
rivers
Examples
• Biological disturbances such as:
– Insect infestation can cause high mortalities of trees in
forests or crops in agriculture
– Introduction of alien species such as in aquatic
systems. (Lake Victoria with Nile Perch)
– Disease epidemics
– Burrowing animals
– Parasites
– Grazing
Mining
Floods
Urbanization
Fire
Road constructions
Agriculture
Logging
What are the possible effects of disturbance on communities?

• Disturbance may open up space or release


resources which can be taken over by new
organisms.
• It often creates opportunities for species that
have not previously occupied habitats to become
established or to colonize disturbed sites.
• Disturbance may therefore promote community
diversity.
What are the possible effects of disturbance on communities?

• The more intense a disturbance, the more


difficult and the more costly it becomes to restore
the area.
• Disturbances can also totally eliminate all species
such as clearing areas for buildings, roads or
parking lots.
• The intensity, frequency and area affected play a
role in how much communities are impacted on.
• Not all communities are impacted on at the same
level. (Forests vs intertidal zone)
Importance of disturbance?
• Disturbances are recognized as an integral part of
ecosystem dynamics.
• It is sometimes our perception that changes natural
phenomenon into disasters.
• Biological diversity is dependent on natural
disturbance. Help to maintain diversity
• Prevent habitats being dominated by a few species.
• The success of a wide range of species from all
taxonomic groups is closely tied to natural
disturbance events such as fire, flooding, and
windstorm.
Adapted to floodplains
Adapted to fire
Disturbance Characteristics
(1) Cause
(2) Spatial dimension
(3) Temporal dimension
(4) Magnitude
Disturbance Characteristics
(1)Cause

• Disturbance is caused by many factors,


too many to detail.
Disturbance Characteristics
(2) Spatial Dimension

• Area affected – actual physical area affected by a


disturbance

• Pattern of effects
• Size
• Shape
• Connectivity
• Closeness to "undisturbed" sites
Disturbance Characteristics
Size (scale of disturbance)

• Patches (small-scale) – treefall


• Large (large-scale) – entire mountain forest buried under
volcano ash

(3) Temporal Dimension

• Frequency – the number of events per unit of time or


probability that event will occur
• Duration – length of time of the event
• Time – time of year of disturbance
Disturbance Characteristics

(4) Magnitude

• Intensity – physical force of event


• Severity – impact on or consequences to the
system of interest
Disturbance regimes

Definition:
The sum of types, frequencies, and
intensities of disturbance through
time in an ecosystem/landscape
Natural Disturbance regime (NDR)
• “Natural Disturbance Regime” is a concept
that describes the pattern of disturbances that
shape an ecosystem over a long time scale.
• It is distinguished from a single disturbance
event because it describes a spatial
disturbance pattern, a frequency and intensity
of disturbances, and a resulting ecological
pattern over space and time.
• The specific NDR is closely associated with the
natural community in which it occurs.
Natural Disturbance regime (NDR)
• NDR are characterized by the pattern and
dynamics of disturbance events that mold the
structure and species composition of an
ecosystem.
• The NDR concept includes disturbance
distribution, frequency, predictability, area
disturbed, and magnitude intensity (or
severity).
Natural Disturbance regime (NDR)

• Distribution is how the disturbances are


spatially organized across a landscape.
• Frequency is the mean number of events
per time period.
• Magnitude intensity is the physical force
of the event.
Natural Disturbance regime (NDR)
• There is interplay between:
 the conditions of an area
the natural disturbance regime
how they are influenced by each other over
time
• E.g. a patchy canopy may be more
susceptible to wind-throw disturbance than
a completely closed canopy.
Natural Disturbance regime (NDR)

• Disturbances do not always affect the entire


landscape at the same time.
• Often, smaller patches experience
disturbances at different times and intensities,
creating a landscape-scale disturbance
pattern.
Use of NDR as a management
concept
• Understanding the natural disturbance regime of
an ecosystem can help scientists and practitioners
better understand and manage the factors that
affect ecosystem structure and function.
• Mimicking the historic natural disturbance regime
such as fire and natural patterns of productivity in
a landscape that has been altered by humans can
help restore or conserve biodiversity, habitat for
targeted species, productivity.
Challenges of the NDR concept
• Use of the concept to inform management is
complicated by:
 Human disturbance
 Large time scales that characterize the regime
 Sporadic return intervals
 Changing management criteria over long time
spans.
Challenges of the NDR concept
• Determining what “natural” means is also
difficult.
• Does the natural disturbance regime include
human influences on the landscape?
• Will human caused disturbance contribute to
intensifying a natural disturbance regime over
large time scales?
• Are management tools used by indigenous
peoples part of a natural disturbance regime?
Challenges of the NDR concept
• Are management tools that mimic the
understood natural disturbance regime
considered part of the natural disturbance
regime?
• If the reoccurrence of an earthquake is
sporadic, can it be considered a disturbance
regime – or is it an isolated disturbance?

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