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Disturbance ecology continues to be an active area of research, having undergone advances in many areas in recent years. One emerging direction is the increased coupling of physical and ecological processes, in which disturbances are increasingly traced back to mechanisms that cause the disturbances themselves, such as earth surface processes, mesoscale, and larger meteorological processes, and the ecological effects of interest are increasingly physiological. Plant Disturbance Ecology, 2nd Edition encourages movement away from the informal, conceptual approach traditionally used in defining natural disturbances and clearly presents how scientists can use a multitude of approaches in plant disturbance ecology. This edition includes nine revised chapters from the first edition, as well new, more comprehensive chapters on fire disturbance and beaver disturbance. Edited by leading experts in the field, Plant Disturbance Ecology, 2nd Edition is an essential resource for scientists interested in understanding plant disturbance and ecological processes. Advances understanding of natural disturbances by combining geophysical and ecological processes Provides a framework for collaboration between geophysical scientists and ecologists studying natural disturbances Includes fully updated research with 5 new chapters and revision of 11 chapters from the first edition
Ecosystems in the modern world face a vast array of disturbances, from globally shifting abiotic conditions, to increasingly variable extreme natural events, to high intensity discrete human-caused disturbances. Well-developed, applicable theoretical frameworks on how ecosystems can respond to and withstand these disturbances are needed for adequate management of valued ecological systems. To date, the most promising theoretical development for understanding ecological response to complex sets of disturbances is resilience. Ecological resilience acknowledges non-linear ecosystem behavior, incorporates the role of slowly changing environmental parameters in ecological dynamics, and offers one of the few potential methods to predict, and avoid, impending ecological collapse. However, as ecological resilience has evolved conceptually to include social, political, and economic fields, it has become increasingly difficult to clearly define in, and apply to, managed ecosystems. This dissertation pairs ecological resilience with other, well-established attributes of ecological response to disturbance, namely resistance, persistence, and recovery. By doing so, we can clearly define and quantify each attribute in a range of ecosystem types and over a variety of ecological scales. In Chapter 1, we use microcosm communities to test the relationship between one potential mechanism, landscape connectivity, and multiple attributes of ecological response to disturbance including resistance, resilience, and recovery. We find that each attribute responds uniquely to connectivity, and that generalizing the role of connectivity over all three may give an inaccurate prediction of how ecosystems may respond to individual disturbances. In Chapter 2, we experimentally investigate the presence of early warning indicators of approaching critical thresholds. Using water table drawdown treatments in bog, we test for critical slowing and increased autocorrelation as the bog approaches a transition to forest. We find that critical slowing is clear in composition and moss cover, but that autocorrelation is not apparent. The decoupling of critical slowing and increased autocorrelation could be due to a number of complex ecosystem dynamics, all of which are common in ecosystem management globally. Thus, early warning indicators likely need further development if they are to become applicable. In Chapter 3, we observationally study how conservation management actions may increase or decrease ecological resilience. In particular, we explore how invasive species management intensity correlates with changes in functional redundancy, response diversity, and spatial occurrence of regime shifts in Garry oak meadows. We find that more intense management correlates with less area lost to woody encroachment and increases in functional redundancy through time. However, the relationship was strongly mediated by individual landscape settings. Finally, in Chapter 4, we scale up to a provincial study, investigating persistence of ecosystems and large mammal species in the face of the continuous pressures of land use change. In the results from all four chapters, it is clear that individual attributes of ecological response to disturbance, i.e. resistance, persistence, resilience, or recovery, all play unique roles in ecosystem dynamics. Additionally, the metric chosen to quantify each attribute can play a pivotal role in how we interpret observed dynamics. The work in this dissertation highlights that we cannot understand or predict ecological response to disturbance without clear, measurable concepts. Around a single state of interest, resilience is only one among a suite of attributes that are important to understand. Its additional strength, of potentially predicting the occurrence of ecological thresholds, is still being developed as we explore methods of quantification and application in individual ecosystems.
The earth's landscapes are being increasingly impacted by the activities of man. Unfortunately, we do not have a full understanding of the consequences of these disturbances on the earth's productive capacity. This problem was addressed by a group of French and U.S. ecologists who are specialists at levels of integration extending from genetics to the biosphere at a meeting at Stanford, California, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. With a few important exceptions it was found at this meeting that most man-induced disturbances of ecosystems can be viewed as large scale patterns of disturbances that have occurred, generally on a small scale, in ecosystems through evolutionary time. Man has induced dramatic large-scale changes in the environment which must be viewed at the biosphere level. Acid deposition and CO increase are two 2 examples of the consequences of man's increased utilization of fossil fuels. It is a matter of considerable concern that we cannot yet fully predict the ecological consequences of these environmental changes. Such problems must be addressed at the international level, yet substantive mechanisms to do this are not available.
The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens caused tragic loss of life and property, but also created a unique opportunity to study a huge disturbance of natural systems and their subsequent responses. This book synthesizes 25 years of ecological research into of volcanic activity, and shows what actually happens when a volcano erupts, what the immediate and long-term dangers are, and how life reasserts itself in the environment.
This open access book describes the serious threat of invasive species to native ecosystems. Invasive species have caused and will continue to cause enormous ecological and economic damage with ever increasing world trade. This multi-disciplinary book, written by over 100 national experts, presents the latest research on a wide range of natural science and social science fields that explore the ecology, impacts, and practical tools for management of invasive species. It covers species of all taxonomic groups from insects and pathogens, to plants, vertebrates, and aquatic organisms that impact a diversity of habitats in forests, rangelands and grasslands of the United States. It is well-illustrated, provides summaries of the most important invasive species and issues impacting all regions of the country, and includes a comprehensive primary reference list for each topic. This scientific synthesis provides the cultural, economic, scientific and social context for addressing environmental challenges posed by invasive species and will be a valuable resource for scholars, policy makers, natural resource managers and practitioners.
As the human population inexorably grows, its cumulative impact on the Earth's resources is hard to ignore. The ability of the Earth to support more humans is dependent on the ability of humans to manage natural resources wisely. Because disturbance alters resource levels, effective management requires understanding of the ecology of disturbance. This book is the first to take a global approach to the description of both natural and anthropogenic disturbance regimes that physically impact the ground. Natural disturbances such as erosion, volcanoes, wind, herbivory, flooding and drought plus anthropogenic disturbances such as foresty, grazing, mining, urbanization and military actions are considered. Both disturbance impacts and the biotic recovery are addressed as well as the interactions of different types of disturbance. Other chapters cover processes that are important to the understanding of disturbance of all types including soil processes, nutrient cycles, primary productivity, succession, animal behaviour and competition. Humans react to disturbances by avoiding, exacerbating, or restoring them or by passing environmental legislation. All of these issues are covered in this book. Managers need better predictive models and robust data-collections that help determine both site-specfic and generalized responses to disturbance. Multiple disturbances have a complex effect on both physical and biotic processes as they interact. This book provides a wealth of detail about the process of disturbance and recovery as well as a synthesis of the current state of knowledge about disturbance theory, with extensive documentation.
Examines how ecosystems can collapse as a result of human activity, and the ecological processes underlying their subsequent recovery.
This book represents an introductory review of disturbance ecology and threat analysis, providing schematic concepts and approaches useful for work on sites that are affected by the impact of human actions. It is aimed at conservation and environmental practitioners, who will find tips for choosing methods and approaches when there are conflicts between the natural components and human activity. It is also addressed to students of applied ecology, ecosystem management, land-use planning and environmental impact assessment. It discusses a number of topics covered in the programs of many university courses related to basic ecology and ecology of disturbance, the latter constituting a field of great interest because of its implications and repercussions in applied territorial science. The book is divided into two parts: the first focuses on the theoretical and disciplinary framework of the ecology of disturbance, while the second is devoted to the analysis of anthropogenic threats. This, in particular, discusses the most recent approach, which uses a conventional nomenclature to allow a coarse-grained quantification and objective assessment of threat impact on different environmental components. Such an approach facilitates the comparison of hierarchically different events and, therefore, helps define the priorities for management and conservation strategies.
As the Gulf of Mexico recovers from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, natural resource managers face the challenge of understanding the impacts of the spill and setting priorities for restoration work. The full value of losses resulting from the spill cannot be captured, however, without consideration of changes in ecosystem services-the benefits delivered to society through natural processes. An Ecosystem Services Approach to Assessing the Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico discusses the benefits and challenges associated with using an ecosystem services approach to damage assessment, describing potential impacts of response technologies, exploring the role of resilience, and offering suggestions for areas of future research. This report illustrates how this approach might be applied to coastal wetlands, fisheries, marine mammals, and the deep sea-each of which provide key ecosystem services in the Gulf-and identifies substantial differences among these case studies. The report also discusses the suite of technologies used in the spill response, including burning, skimming, and chemical dispersants, and their possible long-term impacts on ecosystem services.
Ecologists are aware of the importance of natural dynamics in ecosystems. Historically, the focus has been on the development in succession of equilibrium communities, which has generated an understanding of the composition and functioning of ecosystems. Recently, many have focused on the processes of disturbances and the evolutionary significance of such events. This shifted emphasis has inspired studies in diverse systems. The phrase "patch dynamics" (Thompson, 1978) describes their common focus. The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and Patch Dynamics brings together the findings and ideas of those studying varied systems, presenting a synthesis of diverse individual contributions.