Connecting distinct realms along multiple dimensions: A meta-ecosystem resilience perspective

David G Angeler; Jani Heino; Juan Rubio-Ríos; J Jesús Casas

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164169

Connecting distinct realms along multiple dimensions: A meta-ecosystem resilience perspective

Sci Total Environ. 2023 Sep 1:889:164169. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164169. Epub 2023 May 15.

Authors

David G Angeler¹, Jani Heino², Juan Rubio-Ríos³, J Jesús Casas⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7050, 750 07 Uppsala, Sweden; School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA; The Brain Capital Alliance, San Francisco, CA, USA; IMPACT, The Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Electronic address: david.angeler@slu.se.
² Geography Research Unit, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 8000, FI-90014 Oulu, Finland.
³ Department of Biology and Geology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain; Andalusian Centre for the Evaluation and Monitoring of Global Change (CAESCG), Almería, Spain.
⁴ Department of Biology and Geology, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain; Andalusian Centre for the Evaluation and Monitoring of Global Change (CAESCG), Almería, Spain; Universitary Institute of Water Research, University of Granada, 18003 Granada, Spain.

PMID: 37196937
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164169

Abstract

Resilience research is central to confront the sustainability challenges to ecosystems and human societies in a rapidly changing world. Given that social-ecological problems span the entire Earth system, there is a critical need for resilience models that account for the connectivity across intricately linked ecosystems (i.e., freshwater, marine, terrestrial, atmosphere). We present a resilience perspective of meta-ecosystems that are connected through the flow of biota, matter and energy within and across aquatic and terrestrial realms, and the atmosphere. We demonstrate ecological resilience sensu Holling using aquatic-terrestrial linkages and riparian ecosystems more generally. A discussion of applications in riparian ecology and meta-ecosystem research (e.g., resilience quantification, panarchy, meta-ecosystem boundary delineations, spatial regime migration, including early warning indications) concludes the paper. Understanding meta-ecosystem resilience may have potential to support decision making for natural resource management (scenario planning, risk and vulnerability assessments).

Keywords: Aquatic-terrestrial coupling; Meta-ecosystems; Meta-social-ecological systems; Panarchy; Resilience; Riparian ecosystems; Scale; Spatial regimes; Spatial resilience.

MeSH terms

Atmosphere
Biota
Ecosystem*
Fresh Water*
Humans