Ecosystems are constantly changing. Many kinds of disturbances can lead to change. Nature causes some disturbances, like wildfires, insect outbreaks and landslides. People cause others, by logging or farming.

Some disturbances, like wildfire, can turn a forest of trees into snags and blackened earth. Others, like the wind blowing over a few trees, simply create small openings in the forest. But after any kind of disturbance, things change. Some plants and fungi survive the disturbance while others move in from the surrounding forests. The plant communities will change over time following the disturbance.