W11, Disturbance & restoration Flashcards
T/F There’s no real end point when going from degraded to natural landscapes
True. Natural landscapes are always changing.
T/F: Disturbance is a result of human activity
True and False Humans create significant amounts of disturbance, but disturbance occurs naturally too - land slides - sink holes - floods - fire
T/F: Disturbed areas tend to have more distinct plant communities
True.
Explain why disturbance isn’t always a bad thing
- ## Burrowing animals create depressions for water and seeds to collect in
Explain the difference between primary and secondary succession
Primary succession:
- Large-scale event has led to a bare surface without soil
- e.g. volcano eruption, glaciers, coal ash pit
Secondary succession:
- Disturbance hasn’t removed the soil
- e.g. fire, invertebrate plagues, agricultural practices (harvest, tillage, etc)
Restoration is disturbance in…
Reverse
Who (what group of people) manages the greatest proportion of land in Australia?
Farmers.
Explain the space for time concept/approach
Policy-makers want answers now, so rather than setting up experiments (e.g. succession) to see how a management practice will affect the landscape after 150 years (and going back to measure it then), the space for time approach would be to gather information about different sites that have received the management practice that we’re interested in over different periods of time.
Substituting time with space (going to different places)
How is succession studied?
Space for time.
Permanent plots.
What are some aims of revegetation?
- Habitat
- C sequestration
- Water quality improvement
- ↓ Erosion
- ↑ Biodiversity
What effects might you expect when going from pasture to a biodiverse woodland planting?
↑ biomass ↑ litter ↑ total [C] ↑ C:N ↓
Effects will take time (> 30 years) to notice/become positive.
T/F Fungi are impacted more by disturbance than bacteria
True.
Fungal hyphae are easily broken, but bacteria are tiny and generally aren’t directly affected by disturbance.
