The intermediate disturbance hypothesis, refugia, and biodiversity in streams
@article{Townsend1997TheID, title={The intermediate disturbance hypothesis, refugia, and biodiversity in streams}, author={Colin R. Townsend and Mike R. Scarsbrook and Sylvain Dol{\'e}dec}, journal={Limnology and Oceanography}, year={1997}, volume={42} }
The intermediate disturbance hypothesis has been influential in the development of ecological theory and has important practical implications for the maintenance of biodiversity but has received few rigorous tests. [] Key Result Our results support the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, with both highly mobile and relatively sedentary taxa conforming to the predicted bell-shaped curve.
510 Citations
A field test of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis in the soft-bottom intertidal
- Environmental Science
- 2000
The results suggest that the interspecific competitive effects postulated by the hypothesis are not important in structuring this low diversity, intertidal community, and unequivocally rejecting the hypothesis is difficult.
Local disturbance history and habitat parameters influence the microdistribution of stream invertebrates
- Environmental Science
- 2006
SUMMARY 1. We investigated the effects of local disturbance history and habitat parameters (abiotic and biotic) on the microdistribution of benthic invertebrates during several floods in two streams,…
Predicting invertebrate diversity from disturbance regimes in forest streams
- Environmental Science
- 2002
It is postulated that resource levels will set an upper limit to the species richness of a benthic community that can be achieved through colonisation of taxa in the absence of disturbance, while disturbance removes taxa and resets the colonisation process.
The roles of local disturbance history and microhabitat parameters for stream biota
- Environmental Science
- 2005
This research investigates the separate and combined roles of this “local disturbance history” and microhabitat parameters in determining the small-scale distributions of benthic stream organisms (bacteria, algae and invertebrates) after natural spates and floods in two gravel-bed streams, the Schmiedlaine in Bavaria, Germany, and the Kye Burn in the South Island of New Zealand.
Disturbance and Aquatic Biodiversity: Reconciling Contrasting Views
- Environmental Science
- 2006
The effects of flood-mediated disturbance on biodiversity probably depend on the spatiotemporal scale of observation, and the magnitude of the observed effects is modulated by the predictability and severity of floods and the availability of food resources.
Effects of disturbance on the biodiversity and abundance of isopods in temperate grasslands
- Environmental Science
- 2006
Quantifying Disturbance in Streams: Alternative Measures of Disturbance in Relation to Macroinvertebrate Species Traits and Species Richness
- Environmental ScienceJournal of the North American Benthological Society
- 1997
A more detailed analysis indicates that the most appropriate measure of disturbance may vary even among quite closely related taxa, and the painted-particle approach, described here, has the potential to permit such standarized comparative studies.
Habitat scale and biodiversity: influence of catchment, stream reach and bedform scales on local invertebrate diversity
- Environmental ScienceBiodiversity & Conservation
- 2004
Predictive models relating invertebrate diversity to environmental variables collected at various spatial scales using data from 97 sampling sites dispersed throughout the Taieri River drainage in New Zealand suggest that patterns observed in local assemblage are not determined solely by local mechanisms acting within assemblages, but also result from processes operating at larger spatial scales.
Effects of agricultural land use on stream assemblages: Taxon-specific responses of alpha and beta diversity
- Environmental Science
- 2014
Interaction between disturbance and primary productivity in determining stream invertebrate diversity
- Environmental Science
- 2005
Diversity of invertebrates in streams is a function of time since the last disturbance, mediated through recovery of the food base in autotrophic streams, and little support for contemporary diversity disturbance models is provided.
References
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