Resilience: insights from the U.S. LongTerm Ecological Research Network
Jane Cowles,
Laura Templeton,
John J. Battles,
Peter J. Edmunds,
Robert C. Carpenter,
Stephen R. Carpenter,
Michael Paul Nelson,
Natalie L. Cleavitt,
Timothy J. Fahey,
Peter M. Groffman,
Joe H. Sullivan,
Maile C. Neel,
Gretchen J. A. Hansen,
Sarah Hobbie,
Sally J. Holbrook,
Clare E. Kazanski,
Eric W. Seabloom,
Russell J. Schmitt,
Emily H. Stanley,
Alan J. Tepley,
Natalie S. vanDoorn,
Jake M. Vander Zanden
Affiliations
Jane Cowles
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior University of Minnesota St. Paul Minnesota55108USA
Laura Templeton
Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture University of Maryland College Park Maryland20742USA
John J. Battles
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management University of California, Berkeley Berkeley California94720USA
Peter J. Edmunds
Department of Biology California State University Northridge California91330USA
Robert C. Carpenter
Department of Biology California State University Northridge California91330USA
Stephen R. Carpenter
Center for Limnology University of Wisconsin‐Madison Madison Wisconsin53706USA
Michael Paul Nelson
Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Oregon State University Corvallis Oregon97331USA
Natalie L. Cleavitt
Department of Natural Resources Cornell University Ithaca New York14853USA
Timothy J. Fahey
Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society Oregon State University Corvallis Oregon97331USA
Peter M. Groffman
City University of New York Advanced Science Research Center at the Graduate Center New York New York10031USA
Joe H. Sullivan
Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture University of Maryland College Park Maryland20742USA
Maile C. Neel
Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture University of Maryland College Park Maryland20742USA
Gretchen J. A. Hansen
Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology University of Minnesota St. Paul Minnesota55108USA
Sarah Hobbie
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior University of Minnesota St. Paul Minnesota55108USA
Sally J. Holbrook
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology and Marine Science Institute University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara California93106USA
Clare E. Kazanski
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior University of Minnesota St. Paul Minnesota55108USA
Eric W. Seabloom
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior University of Minnesota St. Paul Minnesota55108USA
Russell J. Schmitt
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology and Marine Science Institute University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara California93106USA
Emily H. Stanley
Center for Limnology University of Wisconsin‐Madison Madison Wisconsin53706USA
Alan J. Tepley
Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute Front Royal Virginia22630USA
Natalie S. vanDoorn
USDA Forest ServicePacific Southwest Research Station, Urban Ecosystems and Social Dynamics Program Albany California94710USA
Jake M. Vander Zanden
Center for Limnology University of Wisconsin‐Madison Madison Wisconsin53706USA
Abstract Ecosystems are changing in complex and unpredictable ways, and analysis of these changes is facilitated by coordinated, long‐term research. Meeting diverse societal needs requires an understanding of what populations and communities will be dominant in 20, 50, and 100 yr. This paper is a product of a synthesis effort of the U.S. National Science Foundation funded Long‐Term Ecological Research (LTER) network addressing the LTER core research area of populations and communities. This analysis revealed that each LTER site had at least one compelling story about what their site would look like in 50 or 100 yr. As the stories were prepared, themes emerged, and the stories were grouped into papers along five themes for this special issue: state change, connectivity, resilience, time lags, and cascading effects. This paper addresses the resilience theme and includes stories from the Baltimore (urban), Hubbard Brook (northern hardwood forest), Andrews (temperate rain forest), Moorea (coral reef), Cedar Creek (grassland), and North Temperate Lakes (lakes) sites. The concept of resilience (the capacity of a system to maintain structure and processes in the face of disturbance) is an old topic that has seen a resurgence of interest as the nature and extent of global environmental change have intensified. The stories we present here show the power of long‐term manipulation experiments (Cedar Creek), the value of long‐term monitoring of forests in both natural (Andrews, Hubbard Brook) and urban settings (Baltimore), and insights that can be gained from modeling and/or experimental approaches paired with long‐term observations (North Temperate Lakes, Moorea). Three main conclusions emerge from the analysis: (1) Resilience research has matured over the past 40 yr of the LTER program; (2) there are many examples of high resilience among the ecosystems in the LTER network; (3) there are also many warning signs of declining resilience of the ecosystems we study. These stories highlight the need for long‐term studies to address this complex topic and show how the diversity of sites within the LTER network facilitates the emergence of overarching concepts about this important driver of ecosystem structure, function, services, and futures.
