Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 16, 2026
08:16
Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity
Published on: March 13, 2014
Beyond the Patch: Disturbance Affects Species Abundances in the surrounding Community
Casey P Terhorst1, Steve R Dudgeon
1Department of Biology, California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, California 91330-8300. FAX (818) 677-2034, terhorst@bio.fsu.edu , steve.dudgeon@csun.edu.
Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
|February 18, 2010
Summary
Disturbances impact marine fouling communities by altering species abundance both within disturbed patches and in surrounding areas. The surrounding community influences patch recovery, highlighting a feedback loop in ecological dynamics.
Area of Science:
- Community Ecology
- Marine Biology
- Ecological Disturbances
Background:
- Disturbances are known to influence resource availability and create spatial heterogeneity in ecological communities.
- Previous research has primarily focused on the effects within disturbed patches or the entire community, neglecting the surrounding community's role.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how the surrounding community affects species abundance within a disturbed patch.
- To examine the impact of disturbance on species abundance in the surrounding community.
- To understand the feedback mechanisms between disturbance, patch dynamics, and surrounding communities.
Main Methods:
- Experimental marine fouling communities were established on settlement plates.
- The magnitude and spatial pattern of disturbance were manipulated.
- Species abundance and percent cover were quantified within disturbed patches and surrounding areas.
Main Results:
- The surrounding community significantly affected species percent cover within disturbed patches, supporting edge effect predictions.
- Disturbance reduced species percent cover and lowered population growth rates in the surrounding community.
- No significant differences in surrounding community impact were observed between disturbance magnitudes or spatial patterns.
Conclusions:
- Ecological patch dynamics are influenced by the surrounding community, affecting recovery processes.
- Disturbances can extend their effects beyond the immediate patch, altering surrounding community abundances.
- A feedback loop exists where disturbance impacts the surrounding community, which in turn influences patch dynamics.
Related Concept Videos
02:26Ecological Disturbance
An ecological disturbance is a temporary disruption in the environment resulting from abiotic, biotic, or anthropogenic factors, causing a pronounced change in an ecosystem. The impact of an ecological disturbance, which can depend on its intensity, frequency, and spatial distribution, plays a significant role in shaping the species diversity within the ecosystem.Ecological disturbances can be caused by an event as small as the trampling of underbrush to an incident as wide-ranging as a forest...
02:31Habitat Fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation describes the division of a more extensive, continuous habitat into smaller, discontinuous areas. Human activities such as land conversion, as well as slower geological processes leading to changes in the physical environment, are the two leading causes of habitat fragmentation. The fragmentation process typically follows the same steps: perforation, dissection, fragmentation, shrinkage, and attrition.
00:54Distribution and Dispersion
Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with their environment and with one another. An important aspect of ecology is understanding where species are found and how individuals are distributed within those areas. The geographic range of a species refers to the total area where its members are located, while dispersion describes the pattern of spacing of individuals within that range.Geographic Range and Dispersion PatternsWithin a species’ geographic range, individuals may be distributed...
01:39Keystone Species
Measures of species biodiversity, such as richness (i.e., the number of species present) and evenness (i.e., their relative abundance), describe an ecological community’s structure. Many factors affect community structure, including abiotic factors (e.g., sunlight and nutrients), disturbances (e.g., fire or flood), species interactions (e.g., predation or competition), and chance events (e.g., foreign species invasion). Certain species—such as keystone species—also play a pivotal role in the...
02:17Ecological Succession
Ecological succession is influenced by the processes of facilitation, inhibition, and toleration. Facilitation occurs when early successional species create more favorable ecological conditions for subsequent species, such as enhanced nutrient, water, or light availability. In contrast, inhibition happens when early successional species create unfavorable ecological conditions for potential successive species, such as limiting resource availability. In some cases, later successional species...
00:30What are Populations and Communities?
Populations are groups of individuals of the same species that inhabit a shared environment. Communities include multiple co-existing, interacting populations of different species. Metapopulations span multiple populations of the same species that occupy different areas. Metapopulations interact through immigration and emigration, providing genetic diversity that lends resilience to harsh environments. Population size and density can be estimated using quadrat and mark and recapture...