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Quantifying spatial resilience
Author(s) -
Allen Craig R.,
Angeler David G.,
Cumming Graeme S.,
Folke Carl,
Twidwell Dirac,
Uden Daniel R.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of applied ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.503
H-Index - 181
eISSN - 1365-2664
pISSN - 0021-8901
DOI - 10.1111/1365-2664.12634
Subject(s) - operationalization , resilience (materials science) , environmental resource management , disturbance (geology) , socio ecological system , stressor , ecological resilience , ecosystem , ecology , geography , environmental science , computer science , psychology , biology , dependability , paleontology , clinical psychology , philosophy , physics , software engineering , epistemology , thermodynamics
Summary Anthropogenic stressors affect the ecosystems upon which humanity relies. In some cases when resilience is exceeded, relatively small linear changes in stressors can cause relatively abrupt and nonlinear changes in ecosystems. Ecological regime shifts occur when resilience is exceeded and ecosystems enter a new local equilibrium that differs in its structure and function from the previous state. Ecological resilience, the amount of disturbance that a system can withstand before it shifts into an alternative stability domain, is an important framework for understanding and managing ecological systems subject to collapse and reorganization. Recently, interest in the influence of spatial characteristics of landscapes on resilience has increased. Understanding how spatial structure and variation in relevant variables in landscapes affects resilience to disturbance will assist with resilience quantification, and with local and regional management. Synthesis and application s. We review the history and current status of spatial resilience in the research literature, expand upon existing literature to develop a more operational definition of spatial resilience, introduce additional elements of a spatial analytical approach to understanding resilience, present a framework for resilience operationalization and provide an overview of critical knowledge and technology gaps that should be addressed for the advancement of spatial resilience theory and its applications to management and conservation.