The importance of periodic droughts for maintaining diversity in the freshwater environment
Whereas some species may rely on periodic drought conditions for part of their life histories, or have life strategies suited to exploiting the habitat or changed environmental conditions that are created by drought, for other organisms it is a time of stress. Periodic drought conditions therefore generate a series of waves of colonization and extinctions. Studies on lowland wet grassland, in winterbournes and in the toiche zone of both ponds and rivers, also demonstrate that different organisms are competitively favoured with changing hydrological conditions, and that this process prevents any one species from overwhelming its competitors. Competitive impacts may be inter- and intraspecific. It is therefore apparent that the death of organisms such as adult fish during severe drought conditions, though traumatic for human onlookers and commercial interests, may be merely a regular occurrence to which the ecosystem is adapted. The variability of climatic conditions thereby provides a direct influence on the maintenance of biological diversity, and it is this very biodiversity that provides the ecosystem with the resilience to respond to environmental changes in both the short and the longer term.
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Format: | article biblioteca |
Language: | English |
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1996
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Subjects: | Ecology, Environment, Droughts, Ecosystem resilience, British Isles, Biodiversity, |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1834/22179 |
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dig-aquadocs-1834-221792021-07-04T04:07:07Z The importance of periodic droughts for maintaining diversity in the freshwater environment Everard, Mark Ecology Environment Droughts Ecosystem resilience British Isles Biodiversity Whereas some species may rely on periodic drought conditions for part of their life histories, or have life strategies suited to exploiting the habitat or changed environmental conditions that are created by drought, for other organisms it is a time of stress. Periodic drought conditions therefore generate a series of waves of colonization and extinctions. Studies on lowland wet grassland, in winterbournes and in the toiche zone of both ponds and rivers, also demonstrate that different organisms are competitively favoured with changing hydrological conditions, and that this process prevents any one species from overwhelming its competitors. Competitive impacts may be inter- and intraspecific. It is therefore apparent that the death of organisms such as adult fish during severe drought conditions, though traumatic for human onlookers and commercial interests, may be merely a regular occurrence to which the ecosystem is adapted. The variability of climatic conditions thereby provides a direct influence on the maintenance of biological diversity, and it is this very biodiversity that provides the ecosystem with the resilience to respond to environmental changes in both the short and the longer term. 2021-06-24T16:00:25Z 2021-06-24T16:00:25Z 1996 article FALSE 0961-4664 http://hdl.handle.net/1834/22179 en https://www.fba.org.uk/journals/index.php/FF/article/view/243 application/pdf application/pdf 33-50 http://aquaticcommons.org/id/eprint/4575 1256 2011-09-29 16:13:47 4575 Freshwater Biological Association |
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Ecology Environment Droughts Ecosystem resilience British Isles Biodiversity Ecology Environment Droughts Ecosystem resilience British Isles Biodiversity Everard, Mark The importance of periodic droughts for maintaining diversity in the freshwater environment |
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Whereas some species may rely on periodic drought conditions for part of their life histories, or have life strategies suited to exploiting the habitat or changed environmental conditions that are created by drought, for other organisms it is a time of stress. Periodic drought conditions therefore generate a series of waves of colonization and extinctions. Studies on lowland wet grassland, in winterbournes and in the toiche zone of both ponds and rivers, also demonstrate that different organisms are competitively favoured with changing hydrological conditions, and that this process prevents any one species from overwhelming its competitors. Competitive impacts may be inter- and intraspecific. It is therefore apparent that the death of organisms such as adult fish during severe drought conditions, though traumatic for human onlookers and commercial interests, may be merely a regular occurrence to which the ecosystem is adapted. The variability of climatic conditions thereby provides a direct influence on the maintenance of biological diversity, and it is this very biodiversity that provides the ecosystem with the resilience to respond to environmental changes in both the short and the longer term. |
format |
article |
topic_facet |
Ecology Environment Droughts Ecosystem resilience British Isles Biodiversity |
author |
Everard, Mark |
author_facet |
Everard, Mark |
author_sort |
Everard, Mark |
title |
The importance of periodic droughts for maintaining diversity in the freshwater environment |
title_short |
The importance of periodic droughts for maintaining diversity in the freshwater environment |
title_full |
The importance of periodic droughts for maintaining diversity in the freshwater environment |
title_fullStr |
The importance of periodic droughts for maintaining diversity in the freshwater environment |
title_full_unstemmed |
The importance of periodic droughts for maintaining diversity in the freshwater environment |
title_sort |
importance of periodic droughts for maintaining diversity in the freshwater environment |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1834/22179 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT everardmark theimportanceofperiodicdroughtsformaintainingdiversityinthefreshwaterenvironment AT everardmark importanceofperiodicdroughtsformaintainingdiversityinthefreshwaterenvironment |
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1756077596000387072 |