Understanding what system stability means or how it is lost has fascinated ecologists for decades. In many cases complex systems- like ecosystems- lose stability passing through tipping points at which they respond abruptly to small changes in external drivers. The ability of identifying such tipping points is hindered by our limited understanding of the underlying complexity for most of these systems. In addition, almost none of these systems exists in isolation, but all are part of a network of interacting and interdependent elements. Major implication of these observations is the increased uncertainty when it comes to the management of complex systems, because crossing a tipping point in one part of the system may lead to a cascade of transitions in another. As this risk is even greater under present rates of global environmental deterioration, we work to improve our capacity for understanding and anticipating tipping events in ecological (but not only) systems.
further reading:
- Dominguez-Garcia V, Dakos V, Kefi S (2019). Unveiling dimensions of stability in complex ecological networks. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 116: 25714–25720. doi:10.1073/pnas.1904470116
- Dakos V, Carpenter SR, van Nes EH, Scheffer M (2015) Resilience indicators: Prospects and limitations for early warnings of regime shifts. Philosophical Transactions Royal Society B, 370 (1659), 20130263. doi:10.1098/rstb.2013.0263
- Veraart A.J, Faassen EJ, Dakos V, van Nes EH, Lurling M, Scheffer M (2012) Recovery rates reflect distance to a tipping point in a living system. Nature 481: 357-359. doi.org/10.1038/nature10723
- Dakos V, Scheffer M, van Nes EH, Brovkin V, Petoukhov V, Held H (2008) Slowing down as an early warning signal for abrupt climate change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, 105(38), 14308-14312. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0802430105