Search results for "RESILIENCE"
showing 10 items of 623 documents
Condition-dependent skipped spawning in anadromous brown trout (Salmo trutta)
2018
Repeat spawners of anadromous salmonids may contribute significantly to population resilience by providing multiple cohorts to both seawater and freshwater life stages. In this study, winter survival of sea trout (Salmo trutta Linnaeus, 1758) post spawners (kelts) was 89%. Sea survival increased linearly with female length with a return probability between 30% and 50%, whereas males attained a maximum return probability of 60% at 520 mm. Of the returning sea trout, 40% skipped spawning and they had significantly lower condition factor as kelts compared with those who returned after one summer. These results suggest that sex-specific differences in individual post-spawning growth–survival t…
Managing the Historical Agricultural Landscape in the Sicilian Anthropocene Context. The Landscape of the Valley of the Temples as a Time Capsule
2021
The debate over whether we are entering the Anthropocene Epoch focuses on the unequal consumption of the Earth system’s resources at the expense of nature’s regenerative abilities. To find a new point of balance with nature, it is useful to look back in time to understand how the so-called “Great Acceleration”—the surge in the consumption of the planet’s resources—hastened the arrival of the Anthropocene. Some particular places—for various reasons—survived the Great Acceleration and, as time capsules, have preserved more or less intact some landscape features that have disappeared elsewhere. How can we enhance these living archives that have come down to us? Through the analysis of the case…
From Metaphor to Practice: Operationalizing the Analysis of Resilience Using System Dynamics Modelling
2017
This paper operationalizes an analysis of resilience for social-ecological systems using system dynamics (SD) modelling. Resilience is a versatile concept that continues to gain popularity among researchers who study ways to reduce the vulnerability of social-ecological systems to a wide range of disturbances. However, its application in the policymaking domain still remains underdeveloped because it is difficult to understand the mechanisms that might enhance resilience and to measure the impact of potential policies. This paper proposes to use SD modelling as a tool to analyse resilience using simulations to quantify system response to disturbances and a causal analysis to identify ways t…
Effects of multiple stressors on the dimensionality of ecological stability
2021
Abstract Ecological stability is a multidimensional construct. Investigating multiple stability dimensions is key to understand how ecosystems respond to disturbance. Here, we evaluated the single and combined effects of common agricultural stressors (insecticide, herbicide and nutrients) on four dimensions of stability (resistance, resilience, recovery and invariability) and on the overall dimensionality of stability (DS) using the results of a freshwater mesocosm experiment. Functional recovery and resilience to pesticides were enhanced in nutrient‐enriched systems, whereas compositional recovery was generally not achieved. Pesticides did not affect compositional DS, whereas functional DS…
Drought and its legacy modulate the post-fire recovery of soil functionality and microbial community structure in a Mediterranean shrubland.
2019
The effects of drought on soil dynamics after fire are poorly known, particularly its long-term (i.e., years) legacy effects once rainfall returns to normal. Understanding this is particularly important for nutrient-poor soils in semi-arid regions affected by fire, in which rainfall is projected to decrease with climate change. Here, we studied the effects of post-fire drought and its legacy on soil microbial community structure and functionality in a Cistus-Erica shrubland (Spain). Rainfall total and patterns were experimentally modified to produce an unburned control (natural rainfall) and four burned treatments: control (natural rainfall), historical control (long-term average rainfall),…
Criteria to identify old-growth forests in the Mediterranean: A case study from Sicily based on a literature review and some management proposals
2018
Old growth forests are increasingly considered and studied all around the world. However, the knowledge of such important forest systems is still limited in some bioclimatic regions, such as in the Mediterranean Basin. Starting from the knowledge acquired elsewhere, our research was carried out with the aim to select the most effective criteria to identify potential old-growth forests in Mediterranean ecosystems (Sicily, Italy). Four key proxy indicators were considered: deadwood amount, tree size, structural traits, and tree species richness. A preliminary classification of the local forest stands level in three classes of old-growthness (high, medium and low) has also been proposed. The m…
Managing for resilience: an information theory-based approach to assessing ecosystems
2016
Ecosystems are complex and multivariate; hence, methods to assess the dynamics of ecosystems should have the capacity to evaluate multiple indicators simultaneously. Most research on identifying leading indicators of regime shifts has focused on univariate methods and simple models which have limited utility when evaluating real ecosystems, particularly because drivers are often unknown. We discuss some common univariate and multivariate approaches for detecting critical transitions in ecosystems and demonstrate their capabilities via case studies. Synthesis and applications. We illustrate the utility of an information theory-based index for assessing ecosystem dynamics. Trends in this inde…
Searching for a compromise between biological and economic demands to protect vulnerable habitats
2018
AbstractIdentifying vulnerable habitats is necessary to designing and prioritizing efficient marine protected areas (MPAs) to sustain the renewal of living marine resources. However, vulnerable habitats rarely become MPAs due to conflicting interests such as fishing. We propose a spatial framework to help researchers and managers determine optimal conservation areas in a multi-species fishery, while also considering the economic relevance these species may have in a given society, even in data poor situations. We first set different ecological criteria (i.e. species resilience, vulnerability and trophic level) to identify optimal areas for conservation and restoration efforts, which was bas…
The buffer effect of canopy-forming algae on vermetid reefs' functioning: A multiple stressor case study.
2021
Abstract Biodiversity plays a key role for our planet by buffering ongoing and future changes in environmental conditions. We tested if canopy-forming algae enhancing biodiversity (CEB) in a Mediterranean intertidal reef ecological community could alleviate the effect of stressors (heat waves and pollution from sewage) on community metabolic rates (as expressed by oxygen consumption) used as a proxy of community functioning. CEB exerted a buffering effect related to the properties of stressor: physical-pulsing (heat wave) and chronic-trophic (sewage). After a simulated heat wave, CEB was effective in buffering the impacts of detrimental temperatures on the functioning of the community. In r…
The aquaculture supply chain in the time of covid-19 pandemic: Vulnerability, resilience, solutions and priorities at the global scale
2022
13 pages, 3 tables, 5 figures