Meadow sensitivity to natural and anthropogenic disturbance [chapter 5]

Abstract

Investigations of geomorphic responses to natural and anthropogenic disturbances have revealed marked differences in the rate, magnitude, and nature by which different watersheds, or components of a given watershed, adjust to perturbations. These differences in response are often characterized using the concept of landform sensitivity. The term sensitivity has been defined by different investigators in different ways. For our purposes, it is defined after Brunsden and Thornes (1979) as “the likelihood that a given change in the controls of the system will produce a sensible, recognizable, and persistent response [in the landform of interest].” Inherent in this definition is the tendency for a stream, stream reach, or other landform to respond to an environmental disturbance by going through a period of disequilibrium until a new equilibrium state is achieved (Germanoski and Miller 2004).

Parent Publication

• Geomorphology, hydrology, and ecology of Great Basin meadow complexes - implications for management and restoration

Citation

Miller, Jerry R.; Lord, Mark L.; Germanoski, Dru. 2011. Meadow sensitivity to natural and anthropogenic disturbance [chapter 5]. In: Chambers, Jeanne C.; Miller, Jerry R., eds. Geomorphology, hydrology, and ecology of Great Basin meadow complexes - implications for management and restoration. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-258. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 68-84.