The last several decades have seen a tremendous growth in studies of disturbance and ecosystem dynamics. We have learned a great deal about the significance of disturbance in various ecosystems, about disturbance regimes, about functional adaptations of species that condition roles in disturbance and post-disturbance succession, and about restoring disturbance as a critical natural process that supports diversity. These studies have shown that disturbance creates a wide range of effects and plays a wide range of roles. In this paper we suggest common denominators for this variation and describe conceptual framework for finding generality by arranging diverse cases. Seveb aspects of disturbance are essential to this framework: historical contingency, resource availability, ecological legacy (controlled by disturbance severity), frequency, patch size, specificity, and the interplay of spatial pattern and temporal process.