Long term ecological research and the changing theoretical paradigms of disturbance ecology

Authors: GAISER, EVELYN - Florida International University; BELL, DAVID - Us Forest Service (FS); CASTORANI, MAX - University Of Virginia; CHILDERS, DANIEL - Arizona State University; GROFFMAN, PETER - City University Of New York; JACKSON, RHETT - University Of Georgia; KOMINOSKI, JOHN - Florida International University; Peters, Debra; PICKETT, STEWARD - Cary Institute Of Ecosystem Studies; RIPPLINGER, JULIE - University Of California

Submitted to: Bioscience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/13/2019
Publication Date: 2/1/2020
Citation: Gaiser, E.E., Bell, D.M., Castorani, M.C., Childers, D.L., Groffman, P.M., Jackson, R., Kominoski, J.S., Peters, D.C., Pickett, S.T., Ripplinger, J. 2020. Long term ecological research and the changing theoretical paradigms of disturbance ecology. Bioscience. 70:141-156. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biz162.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biz162

Interpretive Summary: Disturbance is recognized as a critical driver of ecological dynamics, yet several challenges remain including: (1) the need for a flexible framework that incorporates feedbacks between social and ecological systems, (2) the ability to predict whether a disturbance will reduce or enhance vulnerability to other agents of environmental change, and (3) the incorporation of changes in system sensitivity to disturbance in the face of global changes in environmental drivers. Here, we review how discoveries from long-term research have changed theoretical paradigms in disturbance ecology, and we refine a framework for describing social-ecological disturbance that addresses these three challenges. By operationalizing this framework using discoveries from seven long-term ecological research sites spanning distinct biomes, we show how disturbance can maintain or alter ecosystem state, drive spatial patterns at landscape scales, alter the nature of social- ecological interactions, and cause divergent outcomes under environmental change.

Technical Abstract: Detecting and understanding disturbance is a challenge in ecology that has grown more critical with global environmental change and the emergence of research on social–ecological systems. We identify three areas of research need: developing a flexible framework that incorporates feedback loops between social and ecological systems, anticipating whether a disturbance will change vulnerability to other environmental drivers, and incorporating changes in system sensitivity to disturbance in the face of global changes in environmental drivers. In the present article, we review how discoveries from the US Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network have influenced theoretical paradigms in disturbance ecology, and we refine a framework for describing social–ecological disturbance that addresses these three challenges. By operationalizing this framework for seven LTER sites spanning distinct biomes, we show how disturbance can maintain or alter ecosystem state, drive spatial patterns at landscape scales, influence social–ecological interactions, and cause divergent outcomes depending on other environmental changes.