Measuring the Inertia and Resilience of Ecosystems

Westman, Walter E.

doi:10.2307/1307321

Cited by 280 publications

(176 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Continual resprouting is thus advantageous to rapidly growing species with short-lived aboveground parts, as is demonstrated in the life histories of perennial grasses and herbs. Continual basal sprouting helps to maintain existing community composition between fires, enhancing "ecosystem inertia" (resistance to change; Westman, 1978).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Postfire Succession in Californian Coastal Sage Scrub: The Role of Continual Basal Sprouting

Malanson¹,

Westman²

1985

American Midland Naturalist

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Postfire Succession in Californian Coastal Sage Scrub: The Role of Continual Basal Sprouting

Malanson¹,

Westman²

1985

American Midland Naturalist

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“…Thus, the recovery path was not the same as the degradation path, i.e. the benthic system did not show a hysteretic recovery pattern (Westman 1978). However, the communities showed a great resiliency and elasticity.…”

Section: Recovery Of the Benthic Faunamentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Along an environmental gradient from severely disturbed to undisturbed conditions, the successional stages may be classified as Successional Stages (SS) 0 (grossly disturbed), I (pioneer/disturbed community), II (intermediate community), and III (undisturbed/'climax' community). Pearson & Rosenberg (1976, 1978 showed in parallel studies from Scotland, where environmental disturbance increased, and Sweden, where the conditions improved after pollution abatement, that the benthic community structure was similar under similar degrees of disturbance even when the succession of these communities changed in different directions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recovery of marine benthic habitats and fauna in a Swedish fjord following improved oxygen conditions

Rosenberg

Agrenius²,

Hellman³

et al. 2002

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

108

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The Gullmarsfjord on the Swedish west coast has a sill at 40 m and a maximum depth of 118 m. The stagnant bottom water is usually renewed with oxygen-rich water each spring. In 1997 this did not occur, and the fauna was eliminated at depths below about 100 m and severely reduced between 80 and 100 m depth. In spring 1998, the whole fjord was re-oxygenated and the succession of the benthic fauna was studied at 5 stations over a 2 yr period. Simultaneously, the benthic habitat quality (BHQ) was assessed by analysing sediment redox conditions and faunal burrow structures in sediment profile images. Succession of the benthic fauna is described as increases in number of species, abundance and biomass. Conspicuous colonisers below 100 m depth were the polychaete Capitella capitata and the heart urchins Echinocardium cordatum and E. flavescens. Return to preoxygen stressed conditions was slowest at the deepest stations. By using a multivariate technique (multi-dimensional scaling) we show that the benthic communities at all depths more or less returned to the same faunal composition as during pre-disturbed conditions. The pioneering and mature ben-

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“…Unfortunately, little information is known about which species would be suitable for the newly emerging climate scenario predictions. The suitability of a given species will largely depend on its resistance to a certain level of disturbance, or its resilience in recovering to e.g., the initial biomass levels following a disturbance [36] Recent recommendations for innovative tree plantation designs, based on knowledge accumulated since the 19th century, suggest that besides the advantages in their productivity, diverse tree stands may be more resistant to disturbances [37]. Further, with the prospect of global climate change, converting mono-specific stands intomixed and diverse stands may increase stand stability and might reduce future carbon losses due to abiotic and biotic disturbances [38].…”

Section: Climate Change Effects On Tropical Tree Plantationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are Mixed Tropical Tree Plantations More Resistant to Drought than Monocultures?

Kunert

Cárdenas

2015

Forests

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Tropical tree plantations usually consist of a single exotic fast growing species, but recent research describes positive effects on ecosystem functions from mixed tropical tree plantations. In this review, we present the current knowledge of drought resistance of tropical mixed species plantations and summarize preliminary evidence from a tree biodiversity experiment in Panama. Converting mono-specific stands into mixed ones may improve stand stability and might reduce increasing abiotic and biotic disturbances due to climate change. However, little is known about the extent to which tropical tree species or tropical tree communities can resist increasing disturbances in the short term, e.g., water limitations due to increasing dry season intensity or length, or about their resilience after such disturbances and their capacity to adapt to changing conditions in the long term. Studies relating drought resistance and resilience to community diversity are missing. Further, we highlight the urgent need for a multifactorial manipulative throughfall reduction experiment in tropical environments. The outcome of such studies would greatly assist the forestry sector in tropical regions to maintain highly productive and ecologically sound forest plantations in a changing climate.

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Measuring the Inertia and Resilience of Ecosystems

Cited by 280 publications

References 20 publications

Postfire Succession in Californian Coastal Sage Scrub: The Role of Continual Basal Sprouting

Postfire Succession in Californian Coastal Sage Scrub: The Role of Continual Basal Sprouting

Recovery of marine benthic habitats and fauna in a Swedish fjord following improved oxygen conditions

Are Mixed Tropical Tree Plantations More Resistant to Drought than Monocultures?

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