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- Info
Catastrophic disturbances and the steady state in northern hardwood forests
| Author: |
Bormann, F.H.; Likens, G.E. |
| Date: |
1979 |
| Periodical: |
American Scientist |
| Abstract: |
Models of ecosystem development usually portray plant succession as an orderly progression of biological changes in an environment that is presumed to be more or less constant (Odum 1969; Woodwell 1974). Yet every terrestrial ecosystem is subject to a range of disturbances varying from those that barely alter the structure, metabolism, or biogeochemistry of the system to those that wholly or dramatically change it. Defining "disturbance" itself is something of a problem, because it is difficult to draw a line between endogenous disturbances, that is, events that come within the scope of normal plant succession (for example, the fall of old trees), and exogenous disturbances, events that might be considered to deflect the autogenic pattern (for example, severe fires or hurricanes). |
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