Disturbance as an ecological factor

• LESSONS • ALPINE WALKS • VISIT THE ALPINE • REFERENCES • GLOSSARY • USER GUIDE

FRAGILE ALPINE ENVIRONMENTS

Interactions between different types of disturbance and vegetation

Some disturbances are unrelated to site conditions or other disturbances. These include large geomorphological events, i.e. earthquakes or volcanic outbreaks, which are important in a wide range of relatively young alpine regions. These disturbances are not covered in detail in this unit.
Yet, for most disturbances in the alpine environment, the effect of a disturbance on the organisms or the community is dependent on vegetation characteristics, and their frequency (and intensity) can be affected by other disturbances.

In the diagram below you can explore the interactions between common alpine disturbance events and their relationship with the vegetation.
Click on the different disturbances to find out how they may be influenced by the vegetation and other types of disturbance. Click again, and you can see, how a specific disturbance may influence other types of disturbance.
Green arrows indicate a promotion, red arrows an inhibition (or destruction of the vegetation). Grey arrows indicate that there may be a positive or negative effect.

29 August 2011 © ALPECOLe 2002-2007