Ecological Thresholds: The Key to Successful Environmental Management or an Important Concept with No Practical Application?
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- 作者：Peter M. Groffman ; Jill S. Baron ; Tamara Blett ; Arthur J. Gold ; Iris Goodman ; Lance H. Gunderson ; Barbara M. Levinson ; Margaret A. Palmer ; Hans W. Paerl and Garry D. Peterson ; et al.
- 关键词：thresholds ; multiple stable states ; critical loads ; panarchy ; ecological surprises ; ecological modeling
- 刊名：Ecosystems
- 出版年：2006
- 出版时间：February 2006
- 年：2006
- 卷：9
- 期：1
- 页码：1-13
- 全文大小：5,964 KB
文摘
An ecological threshold is the point at which there is an abrupt change in an ecosystem quality, property or phenomenon, or where small changes in an environmental driver produce large responses in the ecosystem. Analysis of thresholds is complicated by nonlinear dynamics and by multiple factor controls that operate at diverse spatial and temporal scales. These complexities have challenged the use and utility of threshold concepts in environmental management despite great concern about preventing dramatic state changes in valued ecosystems, the need for determining critical pollutant loads and the ubiquity of other threshold-based environmental problems. In this paper we define the scope of the thresholds concept in ecological science and discuss methods for identifying and investigating thresholds using a variety of examples from terrestrial and aquatic environments, at ecosystem, landscape and regional scales. We end with a discussion of key research needs in this area.