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Temporal variability within disturbance events regulates their effects on natural communities
Jorge García Molinos1, Ian Donohue
1School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College, Zoology Building, Dublin 2, Ireland. garciamj@tcd.ie
Oecologia
|February 5, 2011
Summary
Ecosystems respond differently to disturbances based on their temporal patterns. Variable intensity sediment pulses, compared to constant ones, led to greater invertebrate abundance and faster recovery in a headwater stream.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Environmental Science
- Freshwater Ecology
Background:
- Ecosystem disturbance variability is a key factor influencing ecological responses.
- Previous studies often conflated temporal variability within disturbances with other attributes like intensity or duration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally test if the temporal pattern within a disturbance can independently affect ecosystem responses.
- To investigate the effects of temporally variable versus constant sediment pulses on benthic invertebrates.
Main Methods:
- A field experiment was conducted using two sediment pulse regimes with identical overall intensity, duration, timing, and frequency.
- One regime featured constant intensity, while the other had temporally variable intensity.
Main Results:
- Temporally variable sediment pulses resulted in higher invertebrate drift abundance and altered taxonomic and trophic structure compared to constant pulses.
- Benthic invertebrate assemblages recovered more slowly from constant sediment disturbances than from temporally variable ones.
Conclusions:
- The temporal pattern of intensity within disturbances significantly influences ecosystem responses and recovery, independent of other disturbance traits.
- Environmental management requires explicit quantification of temporal intensity patterns within and among disturbances for effective policy.
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