Marshall, John
- University of Idaho
Abstract
Ongoing changes in disturbance regimes are predicted to cause acute changes in ecosystem structure and function in the coming decades, but many aspects of these predictions are uncertain. A key challenge is to improve the predictability of postdisturbance biogeochemical trajectories at the ecosystem level. Ecosystem ecologists and paleoecologists have generated complementary data sets about disturbance (type, severity, frequency) and ecosystem response (net primary productivity, nutrient cycling) spanning decadal to millennial timescales. Here, we take the first steps toward a full integration of these data sets by reviewing how disturbances are reconstructed using dendrochronological and sedimentary archives and by summarizing the conceptual frameworks for carbon, nitrogen, and hydrologic responses to disturbances. Key research priorities include further development of paleoecological techniques that reconstruct both disturbances and terrestrial ecosystem dynamics. In addition, mechanistic detail from disturbance experiments, long-term observations, and chronosequences can help increase the understanding of ecosystem resilience.
Keywords
ecosystem ecology; disturbance; fire regime; nitrogen cycling; resilience
Published in
Bioscience
2014, volume: 64, number: 2, pages: 105-116
SLU Authors
Wardle, David
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Global goals (SDG)
SDG13 Climate action
SDG15 Life on land
UKÄ Subject classification
Forest Science
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/bit017
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/53032