System structure determines which disturbances matter and their impact thresholds

Evidence

Four classes of structure can be abstracted from the systems surveyed in this book (Fig. 1). Both sessile animals and plant communities should be assignable to one of these types. The structure of a system will determine (a) what sorts of disturbance may have an impact, (b) the threshold of intensity that is effective and (c) the dependence of species coexistence on disturbance. For example, above-substrate disturbances will alter resource availability most in “shoot-biased” systems but little in “rootbiased” systems. Furthermore, disturbance of insufficient intensity to open the root mat in root-biased systems will have little impact on species coexistence in those systems. — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 2256

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines shoot-biased versus root-biased system structure as a predictor of disturbance impact.
• XREF: connects to: Disturbance severity determines which regeneration strategy dominates recovery. — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 176; Whether an event is a disturbance depends on the receiving organism — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1030; Disturbance predictions must be mechanistic, incorporating history and context — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 2242 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Unrelated sessile communities obey the same disturbance-diversity rule #corroborates (0.90) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 300
• Intermediate disturbance works by preserving patch structure, not protecting weak competitors #expands (0.85) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1939
• Disturbance is an act of renewal when its frequency is balanced #qualifies (0.80) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 305
• Small-edge-rich gap regimes produce repeat disturbance that slows gap closure #exemplifies (0.78) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 230
• Symmetrical competition makes disturbance-diversity peaks unpredictable #expands (0.75) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1006
• Disturbance resource boosts are transient pulses that pioneer traits exploit #exemplifies (0.75) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1261
• Systems are analyzed through complementary structure and function concepts #complicates (0.70) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 112