Empirical evidence of disturbance interactions: examples from Australian ecosystems

Ecosystems are shaped by a range of drivers including natural and human disturbances. Many natural disturbances such as fire, insect attack and windstorms are increasing in frequency and severity. At the same time, human disturbances like logging, land clearing and plantation establishment are expanding. Co-occurring disturbances can interact with far-reaching consequences, including altered ecological processes and losses of biodiversity. Whilst the importance of interacting disturbances is increasingly recognized, the majority of empirical studies focus only on a single driver of change.
We evaluate evidence for interacting drivers of change, including natural and human disturbances, in 57 empirical studies completed within two markedly different ecosystems in southern Australia that had been subject to large-scale, long-term research programs. These programs have documented the ecological effects of fire, native forest logging, post-fire (salvage) logging, browsing by native her...