A quantitative framework for assessing ecological resilience

Quantitative approaches to measure and assess resilience are needed to bridge gaps between science, policy, and management. In this paper, we suggest a quantitative framework for assessing ecological resilience. Ecological resilience as an emergent ecosystem phenomenon can be decomposed into complem...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology and society 2017-09, Vol.22 (3), p.1-17, Article art17
Main Authors: Baho, Didier L., Allen, Craig R., Garmestani, Ahjond, Fried-Petersen, Hannah, Renes, Sophia E., Gunderson, Lance, Angeler, David G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied ecology
Ecological monitoring
Ecological resilience
Ecology
Ecosystem management
Ecosystems
Environmental impact
Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use
Freshwater ecosystems
Human ecology
inference
Lentic systems
management
Marine ecosystems
Miljö- och naturvårdsvetenskap
Natural resource management
quantification
Quantitative analysis
Restoration ecology
Species
Synthesis
unifying framework
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Summary:Quantitative approaches to measure and assess resilience are needed to bridge gaps between science, policy, and management. In this paper, we suggest a quantitative framework for assessing ecological resilience. Ecological resilience as an emergent ecosystem phenomenon can be decomposed into complementary attributes (scales, adaptive capacity, thresholds, and alternative regimes) that embrace the complexity inherent to ecosystems. Quantifying these attributes simultaneously provides opportunities to move from the assessment of specific resilience within an ecosystem toward a broader measurement of its general resilience. We provide a framework that is based on reiterative testing and recalibration of hypotheses that assess complementary attributes of ecological resilience. By implementing the framework in adaptive approaches to management, inference, and modeling, key uncertainties can be reduced incrementally over time and learning about the general resilience of dynamic ecosystems maximized. Such improvements are needed because uncertainty about global environmental change impacts and their effects on resilience is high. Improved resilience assessments will ultimately facilitate an optimized use of limited resources for management.
ISSN:1708-3087
1708-3087
DOI:10.5751/ES-09427-220317