Assess ecosystem resilience: Linking response and effect traits to environmental variability

• Published in: Ecological indicators Vol. 30; pp. 21 - 27
• Main Authors: Sterk, M., Gort, G., Klimkowska, A., van Ruijven, J., van Teeffelen, A.J.A., Wamelink, G.W.W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2013; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; biodiversity; Biological and medical sciences; climate change; conservation; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; data collection; diversity; Ecosystem functioning; Ecosystem management; ecosystems; european flora; eutrophication; Functional traits; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; humans; landscape; Netherlands; Parks, reserves, wildlife conservation. Endangered species: population survey and restocking; plant functional traits; prediction; RLQ analysis; services; species traits; Synecology; trees; Vegetation; Wetlands; Netherlands; Ecosystem functioning; Functional traits; RLQ analysis; Ecosystem management; Vegetation; Wetlands; Functional trait; Ecological indicator; Environmental management; Resilience; Ecosystem; Environmental monitoring; Wetland; Environmental protection
• ISSN: 1470-160X; 1872-7034
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2013.02.001

► A response-and-effect framework for general predictions concerning resilience. ► Combinations of traits specify effects of environmental change on resilience. ► Selection of traits is system specific and subject to confounding effects. ► Appropriate trait selection supports system level understanding. Disturbances, nature as well as human, are putting constant pressure on ecosystems. These include small scale disturbances like a falling tree, but also large scale disturbances like eutrophication and climate change. Resilience is a useful indicator to assess whether an ecosystem has the capacity to maintain functioning with environmental variability. In this study we tested whether plant functional traits can be distinguished to develop a response-and-effect framework for general predictions concerning resilience. We defined response traits to assess the system's resistance to disturbance, and effect traits to assess its recovery after disturbance. We used a dataset with 932 vegetation plots containing 104 species from a selected wetland area in The Netherlands. The environmental variability was related to response traits and the response traits to effect traits with RLQ analysis, fourth-corner analysis and Spearman's rank correlation. As a result, combinations of traits that specify effects of environmental change on ecosystem resilience were found. A strong resistance to environmental variability was shown, and consequently, a positive effect on resilience. Due to correlations between response and effect traits, combinations of traits were identified having a variable effect on the resilience of the system. In this way this study argues to further develop a response-and-effect framework to understand and assess ecosystem resilience. The selection of traits is system-specific, and therefore, one should only select those response and effect traits that differentiate between response to environmental variability and effects on ecosystem functioning.