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Disruption, Succession and Stochasticity

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Marine Hard Bottom Communities

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 206))

Abstract

Disruptions interfere with the orderly course of a process. Ecological disturbances, physical processes that remove living biomass from an ecosystem, are common disruptions that are frequently observed in the marine benthos. Although often associated with climatic or geological events, some disturbances arise from biological activity. Disturbances are often pulsed, stochastic events at a local scale. At larger spatial and temporal scales, natural disturbance may be a chronic part of the ecosystem, which can allow quasi-equilibrium behavior. Single disturbances have been studied extensively in the context of subsequent recovery patterns, using the framework of ecological succession. Alternatively, variation in ecosystems described by large-scale disturbance regimes, characterized by morality levels, temporal patterning, and spatial extent, can yield large-scale differences such as high species diversity at intermediate disturbance levels. Disruptions may combine with size-dependent and localized interactions to create shifts between multiple stable states. Marine benthic systems motivate and illustrate many of these general principles.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology & Evolution, The University of Chicago, 1101 East 57th Street, 60637, Chicago, IL, USA

    J. Timothy Wootton

  2. Département des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 555 Boulevard de l’Université, G7H 2B1, Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada

    Mathieu Cusson

  3. Estación Costera de Investigaciones Marinas & Center for Advanced Studies in Ecology and Biodiversity, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 114-D, Alameda 340, Santiago, Chile

    Sergio Navarrete

  4. Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, 19104-6018, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Peter S. Petraitis

Authors
  1. J. Timothy Wootton
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  2. Mathieu Cusson
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  3. Sergio Navarrete
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  4. Peter S. Petraitis
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Correspondence to J. Timothy Wootton .

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    © 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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    Wootton, J.T., Cusson, M., Navarrete, S., Petraitis, P.S. (2009). Disruption, Succession and Stochasticity. In: Wahl, M. (eds) Marine Hard Bottom Communities. Ecological Studies, vol 206. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/b76710_14

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