Characteristics of disturbance and recovery

Disturbance intensity and the pace of recovery

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The change a terrestrial ecosystem experiences as it recovers from a disturbance depends on the intensity and magnitude of the disturbance. The major mechanisms of recovery in such ecosystems are primary and secondary succession. Primary succession occurs in a landscape that previously was devoid of life. For example, following the retreat of the ice sheets in North America and Eurasia, plants invaded, and a biological recovery was initiated across regions that once had been incapable of sustaining life. In secondary succession, which follows a disturbance in an area with existing communities of organisms, biological remnants (such as buried seeds) survive, and the recovery process begins sooner. The specific identity of these biological “legacies” is dependent on the intensity of the disturbance. For example, the blast from the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens devastated some 500 square km (some 200 square miles). Some areas were effectively sterilized, but in other areas organisms survived underground or in patches covered by snow.

Although the complex mechanisms of succession in marine ecosystems are not well understood, the recovery of these ecosystems is likewise affected by disturbance intensity. For example, beds of giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) that were devastated by the El Niño episodes of 1982–83 and 1997–98 eventually recovered. However, some of these communities needed to be recolonized by propagules, spores in this case (other kinds of propagules include seeds and eggs), coming from other beds hundreds of miles away. Other kelp beds that experienced the effects of lesser El Niño events suffered minimal damage and recovered quickly, because most of the kelp community remained intact.

In both terrestrial and marine ecosystems, the spatial scale of natural disturbances, which is known to span about 10 orders of magnitude, is important. For example, a drought that might devastate protozoans in a temporary pond would be inconsequential to an elephant. A single tree uprooted by a hurricane is a disaster for the resident ants, but it may become a necessary resource for forest frogs as sufficient water collects around the root cavity. Likewise, while a fire may decimate wildlife populations and scorch large areas of land, the cones of the northern jack pine (Pinus banksiana), which are tiny in comparison, require the presence of fire to open.

Disturbance frequency and recovery

If major disturbances occur too frequently or occur multiple times during an ecosystem’s recovery period, they create conditions that can lead to the formation of alternative community states. For instance, Jamaican coral reefs were subjected to an extended period of anthropogenic (human-caused) disturbance during the 20th century, which was characterized primarily by the overharvesting of herbivorous fishes and by pollution. Superimposed on this pattern of persistent degradation was a series of large natural disturbances, including intense hurricanes in 1980 and 1988 and the near-total die-off of Diadema antillarum (a species of sea urchin) that began in 1983. The Jamaican reefs have yet to return to their former coral-dominated state and currently are “fouled” by extensive concentrations of benthic algae in the photic zone. This crowding of the sunlight-infused layer of the ocean creates an alternative state for the ecosystem that can only support small numbers of D. antillarum.

Conversely, disturbance-dependent species suffer when disturbance frequency declines. The unusual sea palm (Postelsia palmaeformis) is a kelp found on marine rocky shores of North America that are exposed to extreme wave scouring. Winter waves produce patches or gaps in the surrounding beds of the California mussel (Mytilus californianus). If these bouts of winter disturbance are frequent enough, the sea palm flourishes. However, at sites characterized by minimal or infrequent wave scouring, it is absent.

The biology of pin cherries (Prunus pensylvanica) illustrates an extension of this theme. In the course of secondary succession in forests of the eastern United States and southern Canada, these small trees grow into gaps and are abundant for periods of about 10 to 25 years; over time, however, as secondary succession progresses, they are competitively eliminated. During the interval of their abundance, their seeds are dropped on the forest floor, where they accumulate and become buried, forming a seed bank. The seeds retain their viability for about 50–150 years. Major disturbances, such as hurricanes or forest fires, cull competitors and thereby permit pin cherries to flourish beyond their typical abundance and replenish the seed bank. Beyond 75 years, however, pin cherry seed viability and seed density diminishes.

Spatial distribution

Within a given landscape or ecosystem, spatial and biological disturbances can create a mosaic of habitat patches separated by varying distances. The recovery process for species removed by a disturbance is critically dependent on its dispersal capability and the distance between the disturbed site and surviving source populations. For instance, the seeds of many trees are too large to be transported great distances, so their ability to recolonize a disturbed site is measured in metres per generation, rather than kilometres per generation. For some marine invertebrates and algae, however, this distance may be limited to centimetres. For instance, some invertebrate species (e.g., sponges, anemones, snails, and clams) have larvae that crawl short distances. In addition, the spores of some benthic algae are denser than seawater and sink quickly to the bottom. However, propagule transport can span long distances for fugitive or “weedy” species, which are specially adapted to invade and thrive in disturbed environments. In terrestrial environments, adaptations include the development of barbs and hooks (which stick to the fur of mammals), fruits (whose seeds are partially digested by birds and mammals and excreted later), and airfoils (which help the seed glide through the air). In marine systems, spores of green algae and even some floating but fertile plants can traverse great distances.

The fundamental traits of fugitive species—excellent dispersal, high reproductive output, and a brief lifetime—compensate for their reduced competitive prowess (see r-selected species). For example, a large disturbance, such as a large wildfire or major wind event, could cut across a forest dominated by beech (Fagus) and maple (Acer), separating what was once a single continuous area into two or more distinct patches. Although weedy species would quickly colonize the disturbed area, the subsequent colonization by larger, hardier tree species would eventually shade out the early arrivals. Several years later, members of the forest’s climax community (that is, the final, stable assemblage of plants that is not shaded out by hardier species), which is often composed of mature beeches and maples, would rise in the disturbed area, outcompeting the other trees there.

Size distribution of patches

Within a single event, such as a severe storm or a forest fire, variation in the size of the disturbed patch may be an important factor for recovery. Because patch size has consequences for the regeneration of the local biological community, the effects of numerous small patches are not equivalent to the effects of a larger one of similar total area. More specifically, small disturbed patches can recover rapidly because organisms can easily invade them through short-distance migrations. On the other hand, large patches will persist longer as land or seascape features. They require more time to invade, and their recovery is dependent on propagules produced elsewhere, especially in places where no remnants of the disturbed community survived.

Intermediate disturbance hypothesis

Some ecologists claim that these qualitative traits—namely, the persistence of large disturbed patches and the relatively rapid recovery of smaller ones—may be synthesized through the intermediate disturbance hypothesis. This hypothesis states that a disturbance regime (or pattern of disturbances) characterized by low frequency, limited gap size (that is, habitats containing only small areas cleared by disturbances), and low intensity reduces resource availability for many species. Consequently, the variety of species that can coexist locally declines. At the opposite extreme of the disturbance continuum, large-scale and frequent disturbances can restrict community development and the natural evolution of the community. Thus, the hypothesis implies that maximum species richness (i.e., the number of species in a given area) occurs in locations characterized by disturbances whose intensities and frequencies occur at intermediate levels.

Other ecologists contend that the intermediate disturbance hypothesis is problematic. They question the accuracy of the definition of a disturbance and, thus, how one can recognize whether a disturbance has in fact taken place, as well as the most appropriate scale for studying the disturbance. Some ecologists also note that the intermediate disturbance hypothesis overemphasizes species diversity as a measure of recovery from a disturbance. They suggest that other measures, such as the status of various species that suffer or benefit from the effects of the disturbance or the change in the relative abundance of species affected by the disturbance, are more important.