A biological disturbance can buffer a population against a physical disturbance

Evidence

When fishes are concentrated in deeper pools during periods of seasonally low water and high bird populations are present, birds remove 76% of fish. As a result, fish abundances are low but species richness is high and dominated by small omnivores and herbivores. In the absence of prédation by birds, fish suffer up to 96% mortality from overpopulation and depressed oxygen concentrations in deeper pools. Local extinctions are common and recolonization varies with the availability of fish colonists from surrounding areas. In this case, a biological disturbance (prédation by birds), when present, reduces the overall mortality from a physical disturbance (drought). — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1028

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Ecological systems flip catastrophically once crossed thresholds are reached. — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 86; Suppressing disturbance makes ecosystems more vulnerable to catastrophe — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 2073; Disturbance is an act of renewal when its frequency is balanced — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 305 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Suppressing disturbance makes ecosystems more vulnerable to catastrophe #complicates (0.75) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 2073
• Disturbance is an act of renewal when its frequency is balanced #expands (0.72) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 305