Nature Communications (Jan 2017)

Anthropogenic ecosystem disturbance and the recovery debt

  • David Moreno-Mateos,
  • Edward B. Barbier,
  • Peter C. Jones,
  • Holly P. Jones,
  • James Aronson,
  • José A. López-López,
  • Michelle L. McCrackin,
  • Paula Meli,
  • Daniel Montoya,
  • José M. Rey Benayas

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14163
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 6

Abstract

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Recovery of damaged ecosystems can vary in time and extent. Here, Moreno-Mateos and colleagues perform a meta-analysis to describe and quantify what they call recovery debt, an interim reduction in biodiversity, populations, and biogeochemical function of ecosystems during the recovery process.