A fine-grained patch mosaic can retain watershed nutrients better than large managed patches

Evidence

Nutrients leaching through the soil from disturbed patches toward streams or groundwater could be taken up by adjacent aggrading patches or by the riparian vegetation near streams if patch sizes are small and if percolating water is not too deep. In such a case, the watershed as a whole could retain nutrients more effectively than any individual patch, and natural vegetation made up of a mosaic of patches could be significantly more retentive than vegetation managed in large patches. … If these practices are useful and widely applicable, the management of patch dynamics would become an important way to manage the nutrient capital of terrestrial ecosystems. — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1991

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: natural fine-grained disturbance mosaics as a low-cost nutrient-management strategy vs. large-clearcut forestry — connects disturbance ecology to land management practice.
• XREF: Echoes the patchiness-versus-matrix thread from chapter 32 and the environmental-justice course thread about land-use management. — connects to: Steady-state shifting mosaics need frequent small disturbances plus feedback on frequency — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 2273; Frequent small animal disturbances maintain grassland diversity as a fine-grained mosaic — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 499; Scalped suburban watersheds erode at roughly fifty times undisturbed rates — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside:…, 898

Broader Connections

• Frequent small animal disturbances maintain grassland diversity as a fine-grained mosaic #exemplifies (0.85) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 499
• Steady-state shifting mosaics need frequent small disturbances plus feedback on frequency #qualifies (0.80) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 2273