In ecology a disturbance is an event that causes a change in the environment. There are small-scale disturbances and high-magnitude disturbances. Small-scale disturbances are typically driven by biological processes -for example the fall of a tree- while high magnitude disturbances are typically driven by physical processes -for example, storms-. Small-scale disturbances as single-tree blowdowns are very important to create and maintain diversity and heterogeneity in the forest.
