Disturbance and its Impact on Biodiversity
Disturbance is the brief change of environmental states that results in a big shift in the ecosystem. Disturbances may act quickly or slowly relying o the type, and all have impacts as they alter the physical nation of the environment. Disturbance shapes biodiversity. Impacts of disturbances on diversity have been greatly researched in almost all aspects of different classes of ecosystems. Disturbances may entail small things like tree falls, floods, fires, illnesses outbreaks to extreme weather mess ups like cyclones, strong winds, volcanic actions, and tsunamis among others. Disturbance is pretty beneficial to the ecosystem has it shapes the composition of individual populaces and the personality of the environment. Disturbance shapes biodiversity. Impacts of disturbances on diversity have been greatly researched in almost all aspects of different categories of ecosystems. Disturbances may entail small things like tree falls, floods, fires, diseases outbreaks to extreme weather disasters like cyclones, strong winds, volcanic actions, and tsunamis among others. Disturbance is quite beneficial to the ecosystem has it shapes the composition of individual populaces and the character of the entire ecosystems.
Effect of Disturbance
Effect of disturbance is dependent on the intensity and rate of occurrence. In both marine and terrestrial ecosystems, the spatial scale of disturbance is very crucial. For instance, a famine would be detrimental to fish in a temporary pond however the same is negligible to animals like elephants or buffalo (Sousa 360). Hurricane can uproot a tree, and this affects ants greatly however it can be an essential resource for forest frogs as enough water is collected in the root cavity. Fire may devastate wildlife populaces and vegetations; however, some plants like jack pine require fire to flourish.
Living and Non-Living Disturbances
Disturbances might be from ether living or non-living things. Disturbances often negatively impact populaces of the resident plants or living creatures in a given ecosystem. However, they offer foreign species opportunities to triumph in such areas where they are normally excommunicated (Sousa 362). In 1988, there was a huge fire in Yellowstone National park. Over half of the forest dominated by lodgepole pine got burned. Following the recovery process 20 years later, there was a huge tree density. The fire allowed different species of trees to thrive. Fire histories of large forests as seen in the historical books have resulted in huge diversities not just in terms of plants but also animal creatures.
Disturbance on Marine Rocky Shores
On marine rocky shores, disturbance is common, and the scale of the disturbed areas varies with regards to the physical forces in place and the extent of exposure to waves. For example, floating logs and debris may thrash the resident creatures causing localized deaths. Additionally, rocks in intertidal regions are knocked over as a function of their weight and the degree of the wave stress (Thrush and Paul 454). If the rocks are extremely huge they cannot be turned over, the surface is steady, and a typical algal community grows on every rock’s surface. When the stones are turned over, however, the resident algae die, and the area gets invaded by other diverse species. Therefore, the size of rocks in intertidal regions together with the severity of the waves influences the biodiversity of that ecosystem.
Disturbance and Marine Organisms
The California mussel is dominant in the bare rocky shores in the United States and Canada. Winter rainstorms rub mussels off the rocks generating patches. It takes awhile for those mussles to grow back and hence gives chance to different plants to grow back. Studies on the impact of disturbance on the marine organisms are many (Thrush and Paul 459). For instance, there are warmwater fishes and other sea creatures. Increases or decreases in temperatures might cause deaths and extension of some species. The dead orgasms also provide food or nutrients to other organism and offer environments where sea plants may thrive. Furthermore, creatures that thrive in warm water may be forced to move to other places during winter seasons while those who are adapted to ice cold water may have to seek situation environments during summers. This brings about biodiversity.
Biologically Centered Disturbances
Biologically centered disturbances offer opportunities for formerly barred species to reside in a disturbed ecosystem. The first invaders are renegade species, and the interruption is an essential obligatory of this normal ecology approach. The common teasel (Dipsacus sylvestris), normally works as a biennial plant that exists in disrupted regions. It has broad leaves that dry up when the plant grows up, normally in the second year. These regions can be inhabited by common winter cress (Barbarea vulgaris), an insidious winter annual and seedlings of other different species that enhance that area’s biodiversity.
Recolonization and Dealing with Disturbance
There are many other plants that often thrive where a disrupted ecosystem is. Normally these plants or organisms do not have the chance to thrive in such environment since the resident plants or animals dominate that area. Marine creatures such as whales, sharks, walrus dig depressions where detritus build up drawing in fugitive organisms. Depressions at times may also be used as traps where whales ensnare their prey (Thrush and Paul 463). It also serves as vessels of organic materials, a resource used by a majority of members of the biological ecosystem. This results in recolonization.
Dealing with the impact of disturbance can be very difficult particularly since natural catastrophes are unpredictable. Future again cannot be forecasted, however, data and information obtained from the previous calamities can be used. Natural disturbances do not cause harm to the ecosystem, however, man-made disturbance has detrimental effects. Global warming that has seen the extinction of many aquatic species is as a result of man activities. Disturbances nonetheless bring in the much-needed diversity that would not have naturally occurred in the ecosystem.
Works Cited
Sousa, Wayne P. "The role of disturbance in natural communities." Annual review of ecology and systematics 15.1 (1984): 353-391.
Thrush, Simon F., and Paul K. Dayton. "Disturbance to marine benthic habitats by trawling and dredging: implications for marine biodiversity." Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 33.1 (2002): 449-473.
