Natural Physical Disturbances and Communities of Marine Soft Bottoms

Abstract

Natural physical disturbances have been shown to be important in the organization of a variety of terrestrial and marine communities. Some workers have suggested that disturbance may play a similar role in soft-bottom infauna communities. A consequence of such a view is the expectation that some species will become unusually abundant early in the recolonization of a disturbed patch, reflecting their dependence on disturbed localities for the)r pelsistence in the local community. I have reviewed the literature on soft-bottom communities and have shown that some species become unusually abundant early in the recovery of a disturbed patch. The time course of the response of these species varies from hours to months, apparently reflecting differences in life-history strategies. However, it is not clear that these species are responding to a release of resources caused by the absence of their competitors as predicted. These species may be responding to a resource provided by the disturbance without reference to competitors. Although present models provide a useful conceptual framework, a rigorous theory of how disturbance functions in soft-bottom communities has not emerged.