As the human population inexorably grows, its cumulative impacts on the earth’s resources are hard to ignore. The ability of the earth to support more humans is dependent on the ability of humans to manage natural resources wisely. Because disturbance alters resource levels, effective management requires understanding of the ecology of disturbance. Editorship of this book was undertaken with several goals in mind. First, I wanted to present an organized summary of the many types of disturbances that impact the earth, with as global a focus as the existing literature allowed
