Disaster Taxa
Fern spores colonized devastated landscapes for 30,000 years after the K-Pg asteroid killed the dinosaurs - thriving specifically because conditions were hostile to everything else. The 2008 financial crisis created the same conditions: over 50 billion-dollar companies including Uber, Airbnb, and WhatsApp were founded during the crash, worth $150 billion collectively.
During the survival phase immediately after mass extinctions (years-decades), 'disaster taxa' proliferate: opportunistic species that thrive in disturbed environments. These are r-selected generalists - fast-reproducing species with short lifespans. Following the K-Pg extinction, fern spores dominate the fossil record immediately above the impact layer ('fern spike'), indicating ferns colonized devastated landscapes before other plants.
Business Application of Disaster Taxa
After market disruptions, opportunistic companies that can move fast and tolerate chaos capture share before more established players recover. Startups often play this role after industry crashes.