Insects make irregular forest disturbance more regular so ruderal species persist

Evidence

Denuding disturbances tend to occur at irregular intervals in forest ecosystems. Recovery in these ecosystems is facilitated by ruderal plant species (disturbanceadapted species characterizing more frequently denuded patches) that stabilize soil/litter processes but that are competitively replaced during long disturbance-free intervals. Hence, plants and seeds of such species could have become rare by the time a denuding disturbance occurs, thereby increasing community recovery time. Insect population responses to changes in vegetation structure and condition tend to restart succession at intervals sufficiently short to maintain populations of ruderal plant species. The patch pattern of disturbance and insect activity also contributes to ecosystem stability by minimizing the area disturbed at any time, thereby facilitat­ ing complete patch colonization by populations from surrounding patches. Hence, the disturbance regime characterizing any ecosystem shapes the gene pools of resident populations and may, over evolutionary time, select species assemblages that interact to mitigate the effects of disturbance. — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1581

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the forest gap/disturbance vocabulary already catalogued (chaps 4, 11, 39) and to the landscape course reading of mixed disturbance histories. — connects to: Forest disturbance regimes differ mainly in timing, spacing, and severity, not rate. — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 159; Mature forests harbor long-lived soil seed banks of pioneer species awaiting disturbance — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 440; Insect population waves can suppress vegetation across millions of hectares — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1557 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• A biological disturbance can buffer a population against a physical disturbance #expands (0.85) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1028
• Repeat disturbances near old gaps are common and favor growth-suppression alternating species #expands (0.82) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 230
• Unrelated sessile communities obey the same disturbance-diversity rule #exemplifies (0.80) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 300
• Suppressing disturbance makes ecosystems more vulnerable to catastrophe #qualifies (0.75) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 2073