Examples of common types of disturbed lands are forestry roads, mines, reservoirs, and diversion channels. Disturbed lands function essentially as breaks in continuous habitat patches, thereby reducing the amount of interior habitat available to species. For some species, this can be a significant impact as they require a minimum number of undisturbed acres to sustain healthy populations.
Exotic species thrive on disturbed lands.
These species, often weedy and at a competitive advantage to native species, establish a foothold in a disturbed site. From this initial invasion location, the exotic species invade adjacent areas and often out-compete native species. Reducing the number and the acreage of disturbed lands will help combat exotic species and give the native species that are in decline a fighting chance. Disturbed lands provide easy access for people into remote areas. For example, illegal trash and toxic material dumping occurs and ORV use is common.