Ecological biogeography

Disturbance

A natural or human-induced event that disrupts the normal functioning of an ecosystem and can lead to changes in its structure and composition.

Physical (abiotic) disturbance

External disturbances caused by natural forces such as volcanism, fire, wind, and floods.

Biological (biotic) disturbance

Internal disturbances caused by living organisms, including pathogens/disease, consumers (trophic interactions), and human activities like pollution, source extraction, agriculture, and urban development.

Homogeneous

Refers to ecosystems that are uniform and consistent in their composition and structure.

Scale

The size or extent of a disturbance, categorized as micro (1-500 years, 1 m2-1 km2), meso (500-10,000 km2, 1 km2-10,000 km2), and mega (1 million to 4,600 million years) based on time and spatial dimensions.

Primary succession

The process of ecological change on a lifeless surface, where plants and animals progressively colonize and establish a new ecosystem.

Sere

A sequence of stages in the process of succession, leading from a barren landscape to a climax vegetation community.

Facilitation

A type of seral stage in primary succession where early colonizers create conditions that enable the establishment of later species, ultimately leading to a climax community.

Alternative models of succession

Tolerance, inhibition, and random models that describe different mechanisms of species interactions and community development during succession.

Poly climax

Areas with multiple climax plant communities, including woodlands and a mix of wetlands and other soil types.

Mono climax

Areas where only one climax plant community dominates and all other communities are developing towards it.

Autogenic succession

The final stage of succession characterized by stable, self-regulating, and equilibrium conditions, as well as dynamic flux, resilience, and the necessity of disturbance for ecosystem persistence.

Homeostasis

The stable and self-regulating state of an ecosystem, maintaining equilibrium in the face of dynamic environmental changes.

Homeorhesis

The dynamic stability of an ecosystem, allowing it to adapt and persist in a changing environment.

Disturbance sources

Fire, wind, floods, avalanches, landslides, volcanism, pathogens, and human activities that can disrupt ecosystems.

Fire

A common disturbance source that requires fuel and an ignition source, influencing vegetation structure, properties, and types, and playing an important role in some ecosystems like the eucalyptus tree in Australia.

Wind

A disturbance source that causes significant damage in certain forest types, such as hurricanes and tornadoes, leading to canopy openings and opportunities for new plant growth.

Floods

Disturbances caused by high rainfall or snowmelt, including river and lake flooding, flash floods, and coastal floods, with both positive and negative impacts on terrestrial ecosystems.

Other disturbances

Avalanches, landslides, volcanism (tephra), pathogens (disease/insect infestation), and human activities that can locally or globally disrupt ecosystems.

Marine disturbance factors

Submarine landslides, volcanism, erosion and sedimentation, climate changes, pathogens, and human activities like undersea mining and trolling that can disturb marine ecosystems.