The Distribution and Role of Functional Abundance in Cross‐Scale Resilience

Authors

Shana M. Sundstrom, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
David G. Angeler, Swedish University of Agricultural SciencesFollow
Chris Barichievy, Zoological Society of London and Institue for Communities and Wildlife in AfricaFollow
Tarsha Eason, US Environmental Protection AgencyFollow
Ahjond Garmestani, US Environmental Protection AgencyFollow
Lance Gunderson, Emory UniversityFollow
Melinda Knutson, US Fish and Wildlife ServiceFollow
Kirsty L. Nash, University of TasmaniaFollow
Trisha Spanbauer, University of Texas-AustinFollow
Craig Stow, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric AdministrationFollow
Craig R. Allen, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

Shana M. Sundstrom

Date of this Version

2018

Citation

Sundstrom, S. M., Angeler, D. G., Barichievy, C., Eason, T., Garmestani, A., Gunderson, L., Knutson, M., Nash, K. L., Spanbauer, T., Stow, C., and Allen, C. R. (2018). The distribution and role of functional abundance in cross‐scale resilience. Ecology 99(11): 2421–2432.

doi: 10.1002/ecy.2508

Comments

U.S. Government Work

Abstract

The cross-scale resilience model suggests that system-level ecological resilience emerges from the distribution of species’ functions within and across the spatial and temporal scales of a system. It has provided a quantitative method for calculating the resilience of a given system and so has been a valuable contribution to a largely qualitative field. As it is currently laid out, the model accounts for the spatial and temporal scales at which environmental resources and species are present and the functional roles species play but does not inform us about how much resource is present or how much function is provided. In short, it does not account for abundance in the distribution of species and their functional roles within and across the scales of a system. We detail the ways in which we would expect species’ abundance to be relevant to the cross-scale resilience model based on the extensive abundance literature in ecology. We also put forward a series of testable hypotheses that would improve our ability to anticipate and quantify how resilience is generated, and how ecosystems will (or will not) buffer recent rapid global changes. This stream of research may provide an improved foundation for the quantitative evaluation of ecological resilience.