INERTIA AND RESILIENCE OF BIOLOGICAL POPULATIONS AND COMMUNITIES
Human impact on natural resources has motivated the testing of the validity of ecological theory. The concepts stability-elasticity apply to several ecological hierarchies, but in all cases they explain how some factor of disturbance modifies the responses of the present states so that they tend to return to their original state, or so that they remain with a variable rate, in time and space, within the limits of the state. The stability-elasticity of communities is relevant for those who are committed to the management of natural resources and its consequences. In this essay, based on case studies, we suggests the type of data required to quantify the stability-elasticity of communities, and its importance for evaluating natural resources. It was detected that: a) the concepts are controversial and abound in synonyms; b) there is much variation with respect to resources, impacts, dimensions, random effects, etc., which limit the discovery of communities that are globally stable by definition; and c) there are difficulties in preparing a basic list of data. However, we ratify the need to understand and evaluate the concept of elasticity, since the sustainable use of natural resources depends on a correct conceptualization of resilience.
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Digital revista |
| Language: | spa |
| Published: |
Colegio de Postgraduados
1999
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| Online Access: | https://www.agrociencia-colpos.org/index.php/agrociencia/article/view/1604 |
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| Summary: | Human impact on natural resources has motivated the testing of the validity of ecological theory. The concepts stability-elasticity apply to several ecological
hierarchies, but in all cases they explain how some factor of disturbance modifies the responses of the present states so that they tend to return to their original state, or so that they
remain with a variable rate, in time and space, within the limits of the state. The stability-elasticity of communities is relevant for those who are committed to the management of natural
resources and its consequences. In this essay, based on case studies, we suggests the type of data required to quantify the stability-elasticity of communities, and its importance for
evaluating natural resources. It was detected that: a) the concepts are controversial and abound in synonyms; b) there is much variation with respect to resources, impacts, dimensions, random
effects, etc., which limit the discovery of communities that are globally stable by definition; and c) there are difficulties in preparing a basic list of data. However, we ratify the need to
understand and evaluate the concept of elasticity, since the sustainable use of natural resources depends on a correct conceptualization of resilience. |
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