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Resilience: concepts and measures

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Resilience in mediterranean-type ecosystems

Part of the book series: Tasks for vegetation science ((TAVS,volume 16))

Abstract

Inertia, the resistance of an ecosystem property to change under stress, is distinguished from resilience, which refers to the degree, manner, and pace of change or recovery in ecosystem properties following disturbance. In turn, these two terms are differentiated from ‘stability’, which is used here to refer to the pattern of natural fluctuation in ecosystem properties in the absence of major exogenous disturbance. Four component attributes of resilience are reviewed in the context of Mediterranean-climate examples. The elasticity component concerns the rate of recovery of an ecosystem property following disturbance; amplitude, the threshold of stress beyond which recovery to the initial state does not occur; hysteresis, the degree to which the pattern of recovery after stress differs from that of deterioration under chronic stress, and malleability, the ease with which the ecosystem can become permanently altered. Each ecosystem property will typically reveal a different level of resilience to a given stress and stressor. The degree of recovery should not be expected to be complete in any event, due to sample variability and stochastic events. In cyclically-stable ecosystems, the pattern of recovery should be measured in light of this periodicity, and short-term (within-cycle) recovery distinguished from long-term (between-cycle) recovery. The prediction of resilience properties of ecosystems can be approached through a knowledge of the modular structure of foodwebs, through knowledge of the autecological adaptations of key species to the stressor, or through cumulative experience of the response to disturbance at the community level. At present there is much room for investigation of each of these approaches in Mediterranean-climate ecosystems.

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Authors
  1. Walter E. Westman
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B. Dell A. J. M. Hopkins B. B. Lamont

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© 1986 Dr W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht

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Westman, W.E. (1986). Resilience: concepts and measures. In: Dell, B., Hopkins, A.J.M., Lamont, B.B. (eds) Resilience in mediterranean-type ecosystems. Tasks for vegetation science, vol 16. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4822-8_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4822-8_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8637-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-4822-8

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