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#Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis

2 public questions tagged with this topic.

BIODIVERSITY & IDH

According to IDH, at low disturbance frequency, diversity is low because of:

At low disturbance frequency, long intervals allow biomass to accumulate and competitive hierarchies to develop. Species that are highly efficient at capturing light, nutrients, space, or another limiting resource can suppress and eventually eliminate weaker competitors. This competitive exclusion reduces local diversity, especially when no spatial refuges or temporal fluctuations interrupt dominance. Intermediate disturbance may periodically remove dominant biomass, open recruitment sites, and permit colonizers and slower competitors to coexist. At the high-disturbance extreme, only tolerant

Ref: NCERT Biology Class 12, Ch. 15 Biodiversity and Conservation

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BIODIVERSITY & IDH

The IDH predicts highest diversity at:

The intermediate disturbance hypothesis predicts a hump-shaped relationship between disturbance and species diversity. At very low disturbance, strong competitors can monopolize limiting resources and exclude inferior competitors, reducing coexistence. At very high disturbance, mortality or biomass destruction occurs so frequently or intensely that only rapid colonizers and highly tolerant species persist. Intermediate disturbance can prevent complete competitive exclusion while allowing enough time for slower-growing species to establish, so early and late successional taxa coexist. Disturban

Ref: NCERT Biology Class 12, Ch. 15 Biodiversity and Conservation

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