Defining and quantifying the resilience of responses to disturbance: a conceptual and modelling approach from soil science.

ABSTRACT: There are several conceptual definitions of resilience pertaining to environmental systems and, even if resilience is clearly defined in a particular context, it is challenging to quantify. We identify four characteristics of the response of a system function to disturbance that relate to "resilience": (1) degree of return of the function to a reference level; (2) time taken to reach a new quasi-stable state; (3) rate (i.e. gradient) at which the function reaches the new state; (4) cumulative magnitude of the function (i.e. area under the curve) before a new state is reached. We develop metrics to quantify these characteristics based on an analogy with a mechanical spring and damper system. Using the example of the response of a soil function (respiration) to disturbance, we demonstrate th

SUBMITTER: Todman LC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4916505 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature