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Disturbance and Biodiversity

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Disturbance Ecology

Part of the book series: Landscape Series ((LAEC,volume 32))

Abstract

Biodiversity describes the variety of living creatures and habitats within ecosystems. It is the basis for the functioning of ecosystems but is currently strongly influenced by human activities. Natural disturbances promote biodiversity by creating landscape heterogeneity, releasing resources, reducing the dominance of competitive species, and increasing the diversity of niches. According to the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, the positive effect on biodiversity is at its peak at intermediate disturbance intensity, size, and frequency. In detail, however, the effect of disturbances on biodiversity depends on a multitude of factors that vary greatly with type of disturbance, ecosystem productivity, and spatial as well as trophic level of observation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management Group, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany

    Rupert Seidl

  2. Berchtesgaden National Park, Berchtesgaden, Germany

    Rupert Seidl

  3. Chair of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology (ZooIII), Biocenter, Julius-Maximilian University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

    Jörg Müller

  4. Forest Dynamics Research Unit, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    Thomas Wohlgemuth

Authors
  1. Rupert Seidl
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  2. Jörg Müller
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  3. Thomas Wohlgemuth
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Rupert Seidl , Anke Jentsch or Thomas Wohlgemuth .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. WSL Swiss Federal Research Institute, Birmensdorf, Zürich, Switzerland

    Thomas Wohlgemuth

  2. Universität Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Bayern, Germany

    Anke Jentsch

  3. Technical University of Munich, Freising, Bayern, Germany

    Rupert Seidl

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Seidl, R., Müller, J., Wohlgemuth, T. (2022). Disturbance and Biodiversity. In: Wohlgemuth, T., Jentsch, A., Seidl, R. (eds) Disturbance Ecology. Landscape Series, vol 32. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98756-5_4

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