The effect of natural disturbances on forest biodiversity: an ecological synthesis

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dc.contributor.authorViljur, Mari-Liis
dc.contributor.authorAbella, Scott R.
dc.contributor.authorAdamek, Martin
dc.contributor.authorAlencar, Janderson Batista Rodrigues
dc.contributor.authorBarber, Nicholas A.
dc.contributor.authorBeudert, Burkhard
dc.contributor.authorBurkle, Laura A.
dc.contributor.authorCagnolo, Luciano
dc.contributor.authorCampos, Brent R.
dc.contributor.authorChao, Anne
dc.contributor.authorChergui, Brahim
dc.contributor.authorChoi, Chang-Yong
dc.contributor.authorCleary, Daniel F. R.
dc.contributor.authorDavis, Thomas Seth
dc.contributor.authorDechnik-Vazquez, Yanus A.
dc.contributor.authorDowning, William M.
dc.contributor.authorFuentes-Ramirez, Andres
dc.contributor.authorGandhi, Kamal J. K.
dc.contributor.authorGehring, Catherine
dc.contributor.authorGeorgiev, Kostadin B.
dc.contributor.authorGimbutas, Mark
dc.contributor.authorGongalsky, Konstantin B.
dc.contributor.authorGorbunova, Anastasiya Y.
dc.contributor.authorGreenberg, Cathryn H.
dc.contributor.authorHylander, Kristoffer
dc.contributor.authorJules, Erik S.
dc.contributor.authorKorobushkin, Daniil I.
dc.contributor.authorKoster, Kajar
dc.contributor.authorKurth, Valerie
dc.contributor.authorLanham, Joseph Drew
dc.contributor.authorLazarina, Maria
dc.contributor.authorLeverkus, Alexandro B.
dc.contributor.authorLindenmayer, David
dc.contributor.authorMarra, Daniel Magnabosco
dc.contributor.authorMartin-Pinto, Pablo
dc.contributor.authorMeave, Jorge A.
dc.contributor.authorMoretti, Marco
dc.contributor.authorNam, Hyun-Young
dc.contributor.authorObrist, Martin K.
dc.contributor.authorPetanidou, Theodora
dc.contributor.authorPons, Pere
dc.contributor.authorPotts, Simon G.
dc.contributor.authorRapoport, Irina B.
dc.contributor.authorRhoades, Paul R.
dc.contributor.authorRichter, Clark
dc.contributor.authorSaifutdinov, Ruslan A.
dc.contributor.authorSanders, Nathan J.
dc.contributor.authorSantos, Xavier
dc.contributor.authorSteel, Zachary
dc.contributor.authorTavella, Julia
dc.contributor.authorWendenburg, Clara
dc.contributor.authorWermelinger, Beat
dc.contributor.authorZaitsev, Andrey S.
dc.contributor.authorThorn, Simon
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-20T21:04:57Z
dc.date.available2025-01-20T21:04:57Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.description.abstractDisturbances alter biodiversity via their specific characteristics, including severity and extent in the landscape, which act at different temporal and spatial scales. Biodiversity response to disturbance also depends on the community characteristics and habitat requirements of species. Untangling the mechanistic interplay of these factors has guided disturbance ecology for decades, generating mixed scientific evidence of biodiversity responses to disturbance. Understanding the impact of natural disturbances on biodiversity is increasingly important due to human-induced changes in natural disturbance regimes. In many areas, major natural forest disturbances, such as wildfires, windstorms, and insect outbreaks, are becoming more frequent, intense, severe, and widespread due to climate change and land-use change. Conversely, the suppression of natural disturbances threatens disturbance-dependent biota. Using a meta-analytic approach, we analysed a global data set (with most sampling concentrated in temperate and boreal secondary forests) of species assemblages of 26 taxonomic groups, including plants, animals, and fungi collected from forests affected by wildfires, windstorms, and insect outbreaks. The overall effect of natural disturbances on alpha-diversity did not differ significantly from zero, but some taxonomic groups responded positively to disturbance, while others tended to respond negatively. Disturbance was beneficial for taxonomic groups preferring conditions associated with open canopies (e.g. hymenopterans and hoverflies), whereas ground-dwelling groups and/or groups typically associated with shady conditions (e.g. epigeic lichens and mycorrhizal fungi) were more likely to be negatively impacted by disturbance. Across all taxonomic groups, the highest alpha-diversity in disturbed forest patches occurred under moderate disturbance severity, i.e. with approximately 55% of trees killed by disturbance. We further extended our meta-analysis by applying a unified diversity concept based on Hill numbers to estimate alpha-diversity changes in different taxonomic groups across a gradient of disturbance severity measured at the stand scale and incorporating other disturbance features. We found that disturbance severity negatively affected diversity for Hill number q = 0 but not for q = 1 and q = 2, indicating that diversity-disturbance relationships are shaped by species relative abundances. Our synthesis of alpha-diversity was extended by a synthesis of disturbance-induced change in species assemblages, and revealed that disturbance changes the beta-diversity of multiple taxonomic groups, including some groups that were not affected at the alpha-diversity level (birds and woody plants). Finally, we used mixed rarefaction/extrapolation to estimate biodiversity change as a function of the proportion of forests that were disturbed, i.e. the disturbance extent measured at the landscape scale. The comparison of intact and naturally disturbed forests revealed that both types of forests provide habitat for unique species assemblages, whereas species diversity in the mixture of disturbed and undisturbed forests peaked at intermediate values of disturbance extent in the simulated landscape.
dc.description.abstractHence, the relationship between alpha-diversity and disturbance severity in disturbed forest stands was strikingly similar to the relationship between species richness and disturbance extent in a landscape consisting of both disturbed and undisturbed forest habitats. This result suggests that both moderate disturbance severity and moderate disturbance extent support the highest levels of biodiversity in contemporary forest landscapes.
dc.fuente.origenWOS
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/brv.12876
dc.identifier.eissn1469-185X
dc.identifier.issn1464-7931
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12876
dc.identifier.urihttps://repositorio.uc.cl/handle/11534/93273
dc.identifier.wosidWOS:000822209900001
dc.issue.numero5
dc.language.isoen
dc.pagina.final1947
dc.pagina.inicio1930
dc.revistaBiological reviews
dc.rightsacceso restringido
dc.subjectnatural disturbance
dc.subjectdiversity-disturbance relationship
dc.subjectdisturbance severity
dc.subjectdisturbance extent
dc.subjectintermediate disturbance hypothesis
dc.subjectforest communities
dc.subjectalpha-diversity
dc.subjectbeta-diversity
dc.subject.ods13 Climate Action
dc.subject.ods15 Life on Land
dc.subject.odspa13 Acción por el clima
dc.subject.odspa15 Vida de ecosistemas terrestres
dc.titleThe effect of natural disturbances on forest biodiversity: an ecological synthesis
dc.typeartículo
dc.volumen97
sipa.indexWOS
sipa.trazabilidadWOS;2025-01-12
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