| Title |
The intermediate disturbance hypothesis should be abandoned
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Trends in Ecology & Evolution, September 2012
|
| DOI | 10.1016/j.tree.2012.08.014 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Jeremy W. Fox |
| Abstract |
A leading idea about how disturbances and other environmental fluctuations affect species diversity is the intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH). The IDH states that diversity of competing species is, or should be expected to be, maximized at intermediate frequencies and/or intensities of disturbance or environmental change. I argue that the IDH has been refuted on both empirical and theoretical grounds, and so should be abandoned. Empirical studies only rarely find the predicted humped diversity-disturbance relationship. Theoretically, the three major mechanisms thought to produce humped diversity-disturbance relationships are logically invalid and do not actually predict what they are thought to predict. Disturbances and other environmental fluctuations can affect diversity, but for different reasons than are commonly recognized. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 43 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 10 | 23% |
| United Kingdom | 3 | 7% |
| Japan | 2 | 5% |
| Spain | 2 | 5% |
| Mexico | 1 | 2% |
| Sweden | 1 | 2% |
| Switzerland | 1 | 2% |
| Brazil | 1 | 2% |
| Korea, Democratic People's Republic of | 1 | 2% |
| Other | 5 | 12% |
| Unknown | 16 | 37% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 26 | 60% |
| Scientists | 15 | 35% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 2 | 5% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 1,964 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 51 | 3% |
| Brazil | 35 | 2% |
| Canada | 11 | <1% |
| United Kingdom | 9 | <1% |
| Spain | 7 | <1% |
| Switzerland | 6 | <1% |
| Germany | 6 | <1% |
| France | 4 | <1% |
| Australia | 4 | <1% |
| Other | 48 | 2% |
| Unknown | 1783 | 91% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 463 | 24% |
| Student > Master | 330 | 17% |
| Researcher | 312 | 16% |
| Student > Bachelor | 227 | 12% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 111 | 6% |
| Other | 306 | 16% |
| Unknown | 215 | 11% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 980 | 50% |
| Environmental Science | 500 | 25% |
| Earth and Planetary Sciences | 68 | 3% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 36 | 2% |
| Social Sciences | 17 | <1% |
| Other | 62 | 3% |
| Unknown | 301 | 15% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 63. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 01 April 2024.
All research outputs
#679,257
of 25,374,917 outputs
Outputs from Trends in Ecology & Evolution
#409
of 3,201 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#3,555
of 187,311 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Trends in Ecology & Evolution
#7
of 38 outputs
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So far Altmetric has tracked 3,201 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 31.8. This one has done well, scoring higher than 87% of its peers.
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