2.5 Natural Disruptions to Ecosystems

Explain how natural disruptions, both short- and long-term, impact an ecosystem.

• Natural disruptions to ecosystems have environmental consequences that may, for a given occurrence, be as great as, or greater than, many human-made disruptions.
• Earth system processes operate on a range of scales in terms of time. Processes can be periodic, episodic, or random.
• Earth’s climate has changed over geological time for many reasons.
• Sea level has varied significantly as a result of changes in the amount of glacial ice on Earth over geological time.
• Major environmental change or upheaval commonly results in large swathes of habitat changes.
• Wildlife engages in both short- and long-term migration for a variety of reasons, including natural disruptions.
• Enduring understanding ERT-2: Ecosystems have structure and diversity that change over time.