Disturbance and distributions: avoiding exclusion in a warming world
I highlight how disturbance determines species distributions and the implications for conservation practice. In particular, I describe opportunities to mitigate some of the threats to species resulting from climate change. Ecological theory shows that disturbance processes can often slow or prevent...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Resilience Alliance
2016-03-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Society |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol21/iss1/art10/ |
| _version_ | 1818731136194445312 |
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| author | Douglas Sheil |
| author_facet | Douglas Sheil |
| author_sort | Douglas Sheil |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | I highlight how disturbance determines species distributions and the implications for conservation practice. In particular, I describe opportunities to mitigate some of the threats to species resulting from climate change. Ecological theory shows that disturbance processes can often slow or prevent the exclusion of species by competitors and that different disturbance regimes result in different realized niches. There is much evidence of disturbance influencing where species occur. For example, disturbance can lower the high elevation treeline, thus expanding the area for high elevation vegetation that cannot otherwise persist under tree cover. The role of disturbance in influencing interspecific competition and resulting species persistence and distributions appears unjustly neglected. I identify various implications, including opportunities to achieve in situ conservation by expanding plant species ranges and reducing species vulnerability to competitive exclusion. Suitable frequencies, scales, intensities, spatial configurations, and timings of the right forms of disturbance can improve the persistence of targeted species in a wide range of contexts. Such options could reduce the extinctions likely to be associated with climate change. More generally, these mechanisms and the resulting realizable niche also offer novel insights to understanding and manipulating species distributions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T23:12:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6aa5e21cdb904a87a40c56bf1c020076 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1708-3087 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T23:12:53Z |
| publishDate | 2016-03-01 |
| publisher | Resilience Alliance |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Society |
| spelling | doaj.art-6aa5e21cdb904a87a40c56bf1c0200762022-12-21T21:29:06ZengResilience AllianceEcology and Society1708-30872016-03-012111010.5751/ES-07920-2101107920Disturbance and distributions: avoiding exclusion in a warming worldDouglas Sheil0Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management (INA), Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)I highlight how disturbance determines species distributions and the implications for conservation practice. In particular, I describe opportunities to mitigate some of the threats to species resulting from climate change. Ecological theory shows that disturbance processes can often slow or prevent the exclusion of species by competitors and that different disturbance regimes result in different realized niches. There is much evidence of disturbance influencing where species occur. For example, disturbance can lower the high elevation treeline, thus expanding the area for high elevation vegetation that cannot otherwise persist under tree cover. The role of disturbance in influencing interspecific competition and resulting species persistence and distributions appears unjustly neglected. I identify various implications, including opportunities to achieve in situ conservation by expanding plant species ranges and reducing species vulnerability to competitive exclusion. Suitable frequencies, scales, intensities, spatial configurations, and timings of the right forms of disturbance can improve the persistence of targeted species in a wide range of contexts. Such options could reduce the extinctions likely to be associated with climate change. More generally, these mechanisms and the resulting realizable niche also offer novel insights to understanding and manipulating species distributions.http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol21/iss1/art10/coexistencecompetition-colonization trade-offcompetitive displacementcompetitive hierarchyelevationintermediate-disturbance-hypothesissource-sink dynamicssuccession |
| spellingShingle | Douglas Sheil Disturbance and distributions: avoiding exclusion in a warming world Ecology and Society coexistence competition-colonization trade-off competitive displacement competitive hierarchy elevation intermediate-disturbance-hypothesis source-sink dynamics succession |
| title | Disturbance and distributions: avoiding exclusion in a warming world |
| title_full | Disturbance and distributions: avoiding exclusion in a warming world |
| title_fullStr | Disturbance and distributions: avoiding exclusion in a warming world |
| title_full_unstemmed | Disturbance and distributions: avoiding exclusion in a warming world |
| title_short | Disturbance and distributions: avoiding exclusion in a warming world |
| title_sort | disturbance and distributions avoiding exclusion in a warming world |
| topic | coexistence competition-colonization trade-off competitive displacement competitive hierarchy elevation intermediate-disturbance-hypothesis source-sink dynamics succession |
| url | http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol21/iss1/art10/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT douglassheil disturbanceanddistributionsavoidingexclusioninawarmingworld |