Broader perspective on ecosystem sustainability: Consequences for decision making

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 110; no. 23; pp. 9201 - 9208
• Main Authors: Sidle, Roy C., Benson, William H., Carriger, John F., Kamai, Toshitaka
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences 04.06.2013; National Acad Sciences
• Subjects: Anthropogenic factors; Biological Sciences; China; coasts; Conservation of Natural Resources - methods; Decision making; Decision Support Techniques; disasters; Earthquakes; Ecological function; ecological resilience; Ecological sustainability; Ecosystem; Ecosystem assessment; Ecosystem resilience; ecosystem services; Ecosystems; Emergency preparedness; Environment; Freshwater ecosystems; geophysics; Gulfs; Habitats; Japan; Landslides; Littoral ecosystems; Louisiana; Models, Biological; Natural disasters; Papua New Guinea; PERSPECTIVE; Physical Sciences; rivers; Seismic activity; Sustainability; Sustainability assessments; Sustainable development; Sustainable economies; Sustainable ecosystems; tsunamis; United States; Urban development; Vegetation; Wetlands; Papua New Guinea; United States; China; Japan; Louisiana; cascading effects; complex system behavior; coastal zone management; sustainability analysis; ecosystem stressors

Although the concept of ecosystem sustainability has a long-term focus, it is often viewed from a static system perspective. Because most ecosystems are dynamic, we explore sustainability assessments from three additional perspectives: resilient systems; systems where tipping points occur; and syste...