Disturbance, patches and mosaics

Abstract

This chapter introduces the range of biological and physical processes that disturb soft sediment. It introduces the concept of disturbance regimes that connect the extent, frequency and magnitude of disturbance. Post-disturbance recovery processes are described in terms of processes that occur within the disturbed patch and processes that influence recovery from outside the patch. Moving on from the patch scale, the chapter introduces the concept of patch dynamics and the concept of the seafloor as a mosaic of patches at different stages of recovery from disturbance. Connectivity between patches is a critical factor linking local recovery processes to landscape-scale processes. This mosaic perspective leads to the introduction of metacommunity dynamics and the potential for heterogeneous landscapes to fragment and eventually homogenise seafloor communities as a consequence of the loss of large habitat-defining species.