Soil physical and chemical properties - water and nutrient avail and decomposition. The net effect of disturbance is manifest in the rate and pattern of vegetation change. These changes over time in species composition, structure, and biomass represent the processes of succession. Primary succession - deals with the colonization and vegetational changes occurring over time on a previously unvegetated site. Secondary succession - deals with colonization and vegetational changes occurring over time on a previously vegetated site following disturbance.
Disturbance therefore drives secondary succession and is a dominant component of ecosystem dynamics.
Scale - disturbance occurs at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Site effects - disturbance directly effects physical site factors and therefore directly influences succession. Differential effects - different disturbance types cause different site effects. Required disturbance - through the process of adaptation disturbance can become a requirement to the successful establishment and persistence of a species. Multiple disturbances - many times ecosystems experience multiple disturbance events.