Phase shifts and the stability of macroalgal communities on Caribbean coral reefs

Mumby, Peter J.

doi:10.1007/s00338-009-0506-8

Cited by 188 publications

(183 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…1 alone provide 18 possible combinations, although not all are plausible. Yet, it is very difficult to use the plausible combinations to categorize the various studies reported in the literature, even though there have been numerous and well known efforts to catalogue examples of thresholds (May 1977, Scheffer et al 2001, Folke et al 2004, Knowlton 2004, Orth et al 2006, Mumby 2009). The major obstacles to classification are inconsistent terminology, the potential for interactive effects between parameters and state variables, the use of models to confirm rather than to refute patterns, and the limits of inferences that can be drawn from experiments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…abrupt regime shifts from corals to macroalgae in tropical systems, and from macroalgae to barrens or mussel beds in temperate systems, which result in changes in abundance of exploited fish stocks (Done 1992, Hare & Mantua 2000, Konar & Estes 2003, deYoung et al 2004, Paine & Trimble 2004, Mumby 2009, Petraitis et al 2009). Ecologists are especially interested in these sudden shifts because they are common in a variety of situations, often occur unexpectedly, and are difficult to reverse.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multiple stable states and relationship between thresholds in processes and states

Petraitis

Hoffman²

2010

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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The concept of thresholds is applied broadly in ecology to both processes and states that exhibit step-like behavior. Thresholds are observed in parameters, equilibrium states, and in states over time, but presence or absence of thresholds at any of these levels does not provide information about the occurrence of thresholds at the other levels. Here we explore the relationship between thresholds and theory of multiple stable states. We present a 2-species Lotka-Volterra model of competition to illustrate that thresholds and hysteresis-like behavior are possible in linear systems. A grazing model is presented to show that multiple stable states are possible without thresholds in the underlying processes. The concept of thresholds within the context of multiple stable states is reviewed in an attempt to resolve some of the confusion that stems from the different meanings of thresholds.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple stable states and relationship between thresholds in processes and states

Petraitis

Hoffman²

2010

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…Reef fish biomass, particularly that of certain trophic groups such as apex predators and herbivores, is an important indicator of the health and resilience of coral reef ecosystems (Friedlander and DeMartini 2002, Mumby et al 2007, but as exploitation of these assemblage components reaches critical thresholds, the overall health of reefs and the services they provide for human communities can decline dramatically (Bellwood et al 2004, Sandin et al 2008. Reefs under stress can shift rapidly into alternate, algae-dominated states that consequently reduce benefits to human communities (Hughes et al 2007, Mumby 2009). Other key ecological factors such as reef fish trophic structure, ecological functional redundancy, and life history characters have also been proposed as key metrics that influence ecosystem service flows (Nyström et al 2008).…”

Section: Nearshore Marine Fisheries and Social-ecological Resiliencementioning

confidence: 99%

Small islands, valuable insights: systems of customary resource use and resilience to climate change in the Pacific

McMillen¹,

Ticktin²,

Friedlander³

et al. 2014

E&S

145

133

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ABSTRACT. Understanding how social-ecological systems are and can be resilient to climate change is one of the world's most crucial problems today. It requires knowledge at local and global scales, the integration of natural and social sciences, and a focus on biocultural diversity. Small Pacific Islands and the knowledge-practice-belief systems of their peoples have a long history of resilience to environmental variability and unpredictability, including in areas with marginal habitats and with periodic, severe disturbance (e.g., drought, flood, storms, and tsunami). We review the state of research on these knowledge systems as it pertains to resilience and adaptation, and we highlight critical research needs to address the interrelated areas of: (1) local-scale expertise and observations of change with regard to weather, life-history cycles, and ecological processes; (2) customary resource management institutions and practices (i.e., with agroforests and the nearshore marine environment); and (3) the roles of leaders, social institutions, and social networks in the context of disturbance and change. We conclude that these knowledge systems can contribute high-resolution observations, benchmark data, and insights into practices that enhance resilience and adaptive capacity in integrated terrestrial and marine systems. Community-based and participatory approaches can complement and ground-truth climate models and direct culturally appropriate resource management, research, and adaptation measures. Although most islands in the Pacific are small, their knowledge systems include valuable insights on seasonal cycles, ecological processes, and the management of biocultural diversity that are relevant at a broad scale for understanding resilience and adaptability to the social-ecological effects of climate change.

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“…Each of these MEP solutions can be considered as meta-stable or as alternate stable states, because a perturbation of sufficient magnitude, or alteration of initial conditions, can lead the system to a different MEP basin of attraction where different ecosystem processes are exhibited for the same boundary conditions, such as occurs in shifts between macroalgae and coral reefs (Mumby, 2009), in microbial communities (Price and Morin, 2004) and in many other systems (Schröder et al, 2005). Likewise, altering system drivers or boundary conditions will change the ecosystem configuration necessary to maintain an MEP state, which would likely lead to regime shifts (Brock and Carpenter, 2010).…”

Section: Broader Ecological Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences and implications in biogeochemistry from maximizing entropy production locally versus globally

Vallino

2011

Earth Syst. Dynam.

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Abstract. In this manuscript we investigate the use of the maximum entropy production (MEP) principle for modeling biogeochemical processes that are catalyzed by living systems. Because of novelties introduced by the MEP approach, many questions need to be answered and techniques developed in the application of MEP to describe biological systems that are responsible for energy and mass transformations on a planetary scale. In previous work we introduce the importance of integrating entropy production over time to distinguish abiotic from biotic processes under transient conditions. Here we investigate the ramifications of modeling biological systems involving one or more spatial dimensions. When modeling systems over space, entropy production can be maximized either locally at each point in space asynchronously or globally over the system domain synchronously. We use a simple two-box model inspired by two-layer ocean models to illustrate the differences in local versus global entropy maximization. Synthesis and oxidation of biological structure is modeled using two autocatalytic reactions that account for changes in community kinetics using a single parameter each. Our results show that entropy production can be increased if maximized over the system domain rather than locally, which has important implications regarding how biological systems organize and supports the hypothesis for multiple levels of selection and cooperation in biology for the dissipation of free energy.

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Phase shifts and the stability of macroalgal communities on Caribbean coral reefs

Cited by 188 publications

References 55 publications

Multiple stable states and relationship between thresholds in processes and states

Multiple stable states and relationship between thresholds in processes and states

Small islands, valuable insights: systems of customary resource use and resilience to climate change in the Pacific

Differences and implications in biogeochemistry from maximizing entropy production locally versus globally

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