Disturbance Effects on Spatial Autocorrelation in Biodiversity: An Overview and a Call for Study

Abstract

The spatially autocorrelated patterns of biodiversity can be an important determinant of ecological processes, functions and delivery of services across spatial scales. Therefore, understanding disturbance effects on spatial autocorrelation in biodiversity is crucial for conservation and restoration planning but remains unclear. In a survey of disturbance versus spatial patterns of biodiversity literature from forests, grasslands and savannah ecosystems, we found that habitat disturbances generally reduce the spatial autocorrelation in species diversity on average by 15.5% and reduce its range (the distance up to which autocorrelation prevails) by 21.4%, in part, due to disturbance-driven changes in environmental conditions, dispersal, species interactions, or a combination of these processes. The observed effect of disturbance, however, varied markedly among the scale of disturbance (patch-scale versus habitat-scale). Surprisingly, few studies have examined disturbance effects on the spatial patterns of functional diversity, and the overall effect was non-significant. Despite major knowledge gaps in certain areas, our analysis offers a much-needed initial insights into the disturbance-driven changes in the spatial patterns of biodiversity, thereby setting the ground for informed discussion on conservation and promotion of spatial heterogeneity in managing natural systems under a changing world.