2.5 Natural Disruptions to Ecosystems

Resistance

ability to remain unchanged when being subjected to disturbance

Resilience

ability and rate of an ecosystem to recover from a disturbance and return to its pre-disturbed state

Intermediate Disturbance

greatest biodiversity, because few disturbances, so slow growers have time to get a foothold & too many for competitive species to push out others

Frequent disturbances

fast growing species dominate

Rare disturbances

most competitive species dominate

natural disruptions are

okay

anthrophoneic are

not okay

Natural Disruptions

hurricane, forest fire, climate change, sea level, change, habitat alteration, migration pattern change, etc.

Timing of disruptions

periodic, episodic, or random