Small clearings reoccupy faster than large ones when bordered by vegetative colonies.

Evidence

Kay and Keough (1981) examined the reoccupation of two sorts of type 1 clear­ ings on pier pilings in South Australia: randomly positioned experimental clearings made four times a year, and clearings of various sizes that were deliberately posi­ tioned so that they were surrounded by one of a pair of common sheetlike sponges. These clearings were reoccupied almost exclusively by the vegetative extension of adjacent colonies, with recruits from the plankton being overgrown quickly. Small clearings were reoccupied much more rapidly than large ones, although in the case of the fast-growing sponges, even a large (0.5-m diameter) clearing offered little chance for recruits to become established. … The actual location of a clearing was more important than its size; a small clearing alongside the slow-growing coral Culicia tenella would provide more opportunities for establishment than a large clearing alongside the faster-growing sponges. — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 946

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Larger disturbances produce fewer surviving coral fragments than smaller ones — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 911; Clear-cut ground disappears within weeks under fast pioneer plants engineered for reproduction — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 1046; Repeat disturbances near old gaps are common and favor growth-suppression alternating species — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 230 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Clear-cut ground disappears within weeks under fast pioneer plants engineered for reproduction #exemplifies (0.85) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 1046
• Localized disturbances turn sessile assemblages into a patch mosaic #expands (0.80) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 681
• Repeat disturbances near old gaps are common and favor growth-suppression alternating species #complicates (0.75) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 230