Ecosystems ecology studies the links between organisms and their physical environment within the context of the Earth system. Ecosystems are biotic communities and their associated physical environments in a specific place. Ecosystems are the basis for social and economic development but the gradual loss of ecological resilience can lead to unexpected collapse, so building resilience is necessary in view of global change. Adaptive theory is derived from ecosystem dynamics and focuses on processes of destruction and reorganization. How ecosystems respond to change depends on their potential to change, degree of connectedness, and resilience to shocks. Positive and negative feedback loops regulate ecosystem dynamics.

1. Ecosystems Ecology
• Studies the links between
organisms and their physical
environment within an Earth
System context (Chapin et al.
2011)
• Ecosystems: a biotic community or
assemblage and its associated
physical environment in a
specific place. - Tunsley, 1935
• Sustainability: Capacity to
create, test, and maintain
adaptive capability.
http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2015/2015/whatisbio
diversity.html

2. Why are ecosystems important?
• Ecosystems are the basis for
social and economic
development
• Gradual loss of ecological
resilience can lead to
unexpected collapse
• Building resilience is
necessary in view of global
change

3. Feedbacks
Positive and negative feedback loops regulate
the internal dynamics of ecosystems
Resilience & Ecosystems
Resilience is the basis for complex adaptive
management, which embraces uncertainty of
complex resource system

7. Adaptive Theory
• Theory of change in adaptive systems
• derived from dynamics of ecosystems
• focuses on processes of destruction and reorganization

8. Ecosystem Response
How ecosystems responds to change depends on:
▣ Potential available to change (determines the
range of options available) = wealth/capital
▣ Degree of connectedness between internal
controlling variables and processes – reflects
sensitivity to external variation
▣ Resilience of systems – measure of their
vulnerability to unexpected or unexpected
shocks

9. The Adaptive Cycle
• Reorganization (alpha: α)
• Exploitation (r)
• Conservation (K)
• Release (Omega: Ω)

10. Evans, G. (2008). Transformation from “Carbon Valley” to a “Post-Carbon Society” in a Climate Change Hot Spot: the Coalfields of the Hunter Valley,
New South Wales, Australia. Ecology and Society, 13(1), 39.

11. e.g. after a
forest fire,
seedbank,
climate,
existing
nutrients
determine the
options for
experiments in
the alpha phase.
Remember: Renewal at a lower
level draw on the potential
accumulated at a higher, slower
one
Revolt: event in the
“creative
destruction” phase at
a lower level
triggers a crises at
a higher level.
e.g. forest fire
starting in the crown
of a tree to patch to
whole stand of trees

12. Trophic
Cascades
When predators
limit the density
and/or behavior of
their prey and
thereby enhance
survival of the
next lower trophic
level = powerful
indirect
interactions

13. Heterogeneity
• Heterogeneity = degree of difference among
things and is the ultimate indicator of
biodiversity
• 3 key features:
1) Types of resources and environmental
constraints (e.g. substrates, organisms)
2) Configurations of resources and
constraints in space
3) Focal organisms, assemblage, or process

14. Principles of Heterogeneity
• Can be deterministic, random or chaotic in
origin, many kinds of processes or agents can
produce it
• Agents can include geology, fire, or flood and
biotic ones such as organisms
• Different agents behave differently and
physical and biological sources of
heterogeneity can interact

15. Key components of
Heterogeneity
• Agent: create, maintain or transform
structural or functional features of a
system. E.g. termites: create nests that
differ structurally & functionally from
surrounding area
• Substrate: An entity that agent acts upon
something. It can be biological or physical.
E.g. Tree: object that is subject to elephant
disturbance.
• Controller: Affects action of agent on a
substrate or transitions between states of
substrate. E.g. Vegetation condition and
nutrient content: may control impact of an
animal agent.
• Responder: Entity or process that responds to
spatial differentiation. It is important to

17. References
Chapin III, F. Stuart, Pamela A. Matson, and Peter Vitousek. Principles of terrestrial
ecosystem ecology. Springer Science & Business Media, 2011. Chapter 1.
Currie, William S. "Units of nature or processes across scales? The ecosystem concept at
age 75." New Phytologist 190.1 (2011): 21-34.
Pickett, Steward TA, and Mary L. Cadenasso. "The ecosystem as a multidimensional
concept: meaning, model, and metaphor." Ecosystems 5.1 (2002): 1-10.
Silliman, B. R. & Angelini, C. (2012) Trophic Cascades Across Diverse Plant Ecosystems.
Nature Education Knowledge 3(10):44
Holdo, Ricardo M., et al. "A disease-mediated trophic cascade in the Serengeti and its
implications for ecosystem C." PLoS biology 7.9 (2009): e1000210.
Ripple, William J., and Robert L. Beschta. "Trophic cascades in Yellowstone: The first
15years after wolf reintroduction." Biological Conservation 145.1 (2012): 205-213.

18. • Joseph, G. S., Seymour, C. L., Cumming, G. S., Cumming, D. H., & Mahlangu,
Z. (2014). Termite mounds increase functional diversity of woody plants in
African savannas. Ecosystems, 17(5), 808-819.
• Vleminckx, J., Drouet, T., Amani, C., Lisingo, J., Lejoly, J., & Hardy, O. J.
(2015). Impact of fine‐scale edaphic heterogeneity on tree species
assembly in a central African rainforest. Journal of vegetation science,
26(1), 134-144.
• Davies, A. B., & Asner, G. P. (2014). Advances in animal ecology from
3DLiDAR ecosystem mapping. Trends in ecology & evolution, 29(12), 681-
691.
• Plas, F., Howison, R., Reinders, J., Fokkema, W., & Olff, H. (2013). Functional
traits of trees on and off termite mounds: understanding the origin of
bioticallydriven heterogeneity in savannas. Journal of vegetation science,
24(2), 227238.