Agronomy and Horticulture Department
Ecological Resilience
Date of this Version
2020
Document Type
Article
Citation
Plant and Soil Sciences eLibrary (PASSeL) Lesson
Abstract
This lesson is an introduction to the concept of ecological resilience. Resilience is the amount of disturbance a system can withstand without transitioning to an alternative state characterized by fundamentally different structure and function. Disturbances include fire, flooding, grazing, and all kinds of modern human influences like pollution and overharvesting of resources. Concepts of ecological resilience apply to complex systems such as the human body, ecosystems, societies, and economies. Overall, the concepts of ecological resilience can help us to better understand, conserve, and remediate Earth’s ecosystems in the face of historically unprecedented anthropogenic change while also understanding the dynamic processes at work within social systems of our own creation.
Overview - What Will You Learn In This Lesson?
This lesson discusses what resilience is and how it relates to understanding and interpreting natural phenomena.
Objectives
This lesson covers the concept of ecological resilience. At the end of this module you should be able to:
- Define ecological resilience and some related terminology
- Give a brief history of the origin of the concept
- Explain the ball-in-cup model of resilience and understand the dynamics of the model
- Provide reasons why this concept may be used to make ecological management decisions
Modules:
Comments
Copyright © 2020 Allison K. Ludwig, Conor D. Barnes, Dillon Fogarty, Julie A. Fowler, Katharine F. E. Hogan, Jessica E. Johnson, and Dirac Twidwell. Used by permission.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants No. DGE-1735362 and 1920938. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.