The Relationship Between Patchiness and Biodiversity in Terrestrial Systems

Summary

Historical biodiversity in a biome is dependent on the integrity of particular physical environments or interactions between species. As new types of disturbances occur or disturbances increase in intensity or scale, specialized, highly interdependent interactions are disrupted and systems become dominated by more generalized species and interactions. Generalized animals will then also enlarge the area of disturbance, particularly in old biomes. A young biome, such as the boreal forest, is dominated by generalized relationships, sometimes typical for that environment, whereas older biomes, such as temperate grasslands and tropical forests, show more specialized interactions. Specialized interactions occur on overlapping spatial scales; thus landscapes rather than patches should be the focus of management. Specialized patchy systems need to be recognized but at present preservation of large pristine landscapes has priority.