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  • © 2022

Disturbance Ecology

  • First text book on disturbance ecology written from the Central European perspective
  • Provides a consistent overview of drivers and impacts of important disturbance agents across different ecosystems
  • Integrates issues of global change on disturbances and disturbance management

Part of the book series: Landscape Series (LAEC, volume 32)

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Table of contents (18 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
  2. Disturbance Ecology: A Guideline

    • Thomas Wohlgemuth, Anke Jentsch, Rupert Seidl
    Pages 1-7
  3. Definitions and Assessments

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 9-9
    2. Disturbances and Disturbance Regimes

      • Anke Jentsch, Rupert Seidl, Thomas Wohlgemuth
      Pages 11-40
  4. Concepts

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 77-77
    2. Disturbance and Biodiversity

      • Rupert Seidl, Jörg Müller, Thomas Wohlgemuth
      Pages 79-96
    3. Disturbance Resilience

      • Rupert Seidl, Anke Jentsch, Thomas Wohlgemuth
      Pages 97-115
    4. Adaptation to Disturbance

      • Georg Gratzer, Anke Jentsch
      Pages 117-139
  5. Abiotic Disturbances

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 141-141
    2. Fire in Forest Ecosystems: Processes and Management Strategies

      • Daniel Kraus, Thomas Wohlgemuth, Marc Castellnou, Marco Conedera
      Pages 143-171
    3. Wind Disturbances

      • Thomas Wohlgemuth, Marc Hanewinkel, Rupert Seidl
      Pages 173-194
    4. Avalanches and Other Snow Movements

      • Peter Bebi, Perry Bartelt, Christian Rixen
      Pages 195-210
  6. Biotic Disturbances

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 211-211
    2. Tree Diseases

      • Marco Pautasso
      Pages 213-237
    3. Insect Defoliators

      • Christa Schafellner, Katrin Möller
      Pages 239-269
    4. Bark Beetles

      • Beat Wermelinger, Oliver Jakoby
      Pages 271-293
    5. Large Herbivores

      • Josef Senn
      Pages 295-312
  7. Anthropogenic Disturbances

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 313-313
    2. Forest Management

      • Peter Meyer, Christian Ammer
      Pages 315-347

About this book

This edited work presents a multi-faceted view on the causes and consequences of disturbance in ecosystems. Vegetation can be affected by a variety of different disturbances such as wind, floods, fire, and insect attack, leading to an abrupt change in live biomass. Disturbance is a motor of vegetation dynamics, but also sensitive to climate change and poses a challenge for ecosystem management.

Readers will discover the global distribution of disturbance regimes and learn about the importance of disturbances for biodiversity and the evolution of plant and animal life. The book provides a Central European perspective on disturbance ecology, and addresses important disturbance agents such as fire, wind, avalanches, tree diseases, insect defoliators, bark beetles and large herbivores in dedicated chapters. It furthermore includes chapters on anthropogenic disturbances in forests and grasslands. The impact of climate change on disturbance regimes and approaches to address disturbance risks in ecosystem management are discussed in concluding chapters. Within the 18 chapters 14 textboxes highlight current topics of disturbance ecology and provide deeper methodological insights into the field.

Disturbances strongly shape our landscapes and maintain our biodiversity. A better understanding of their ecology is thus fundamental for contextualizing the dynamic changes in our environment. This book is a valuable resource for students and practitioners interested in disturbances and their management.


Editors and Affiliations

  • WSL Swiss Federal Research Institute, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    Thomas Wohlgemuth

  • Universität Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

    Anke Jentsch

  • Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany

    Rupert Seidl

About the editors

Thomas Wohlgemuth is head of the research group Disturbance Ecology at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL in Birmensdorf (Switzerland). He investigates reforestation after windthrow, forest fire, and drought-induced mortality, as well as early growth of tree species under experimental conditions. His focus is on the interaction between disturbance and climate change, and the effects of this interaction on forest communities.

Anke Jentsch is professor of Disturbance Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics at the University of Bayreuth (Germany). Her research covers, in particular, disturbance and biodiversity, natural hazards, and climate change. Her scientific interests focus on the understanding of ecosystem dynamics and community resilience. Her work includes extensive field experiments in Central Europe on the effects of weather extremes on ecosystem functions.

Rupert Seidl is professor of Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany. He works towards a better understanding of forest change, and harnesses these insights to improve ecosystem management. Methodologically, he combines dynamic simulation models with remote sensing data and field observations to quantify past and potential future changes in forest structure, composition, and function.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Disturbance Ecology

  • Editors: Thomas Wohlgemuth, Anke Jentsch, Rupert Seidl

  • Series Title: Landscape Series

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98756-5

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life Sciences, Biomedical and Life Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-98755-8Published: 20 November 2022

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-98758-9Published: 20 November 2023

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-98756-5Published: 19 November 2022

  • Series ISSN: 1572-7742

  • Series E-ISSN: 1875-1210

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XI, 439

  • Number of Illustrations: 153 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Ecology, Landscape Ecology, Plant Ecology, Terrestial Ecology

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access