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Reciprocal relationships and potential feedbacks between biodiversity and disturbance
A Randall Hughes1, Jarrett E Byrnes, David L Kimbro
1Evolution and Ecology, University of California-Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA. arhughes@ucdavis.edu
Ecology Letters
|August 1, 2007
Summary
Ecological feedbacks between biodiversity and disturbance can occur, influencing community diversity. This study synthesizes research showing disturbance affects diversity and vice versa, impacting ecosystem patterns.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Environmental Science
Background:
- Ecological research traditionally views the biodiversity-disturbance relationship unidirectionally.
- Two main perspectives exist: disturbance shapes community diversity, or diversity influences disturbance severity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To synthesize existing research on the reciprocal relationship between biodiversity and disturbance.
- To investigate the occurrence and effects of feedbacks between diversity and disturbance on ecological patterns.
- To develop and evaluate a conceptual model for understanding these complex interactions.
Main Methods:
- Review of published experimental studies on biodiversity and disturbance.
- Development and evaluation of a conceptual model to analyze feedback mechanisms.
- Decomposition of relationships into sequential effects: diversity on disturbance, and disturbance on diversity dynamics (loss, recruitment, exclusion).
Main Results:
- Disturbance severity is both a cause and consequence of local biodiversity across ecosystems.
- Unidirectional relationships between diversity and disturbance exhibit significant variability.
- Conceptual model indicates feedbacks can increase species richness, reduce diversity variability, and alter diversity-disturbance correlations.
Conclusions:
- Feedbacks between biodiversity and disturbance are significant ecological phenomena.
- These feedbacks can modify expected patterns of diversity in natural systems.
- Further research is needed to fully understand the reciprocal dynamics between ecological variables like diversity and disturbance.
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