Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Mitigation. is. a. long-term. approach. because. the. greenhouse. effect. already. has.
great. momentum.. Suggested. approaches. include. reducing. demand. for. energy. by.
human.behavioral.modiication,.the.rapid.development.and.deployment.of.cleaner-
energy.technologies,.and.the.geosequestration.of.CO
2
..Less.accepted.but.arguably.
more.important.would.be.addressing.the.underlying.drivers.of.climate.change,.i.e.,.
growth.in.human.populations.and.economies—factors.usually.ignored.in.ecological.
management..Unfortunately,.the.task.is.daunting.with.the.human.population.increas-
ing. by. over. 70. million. per. year. (UNFPA. 2005). and. energy-demanding. economic.
growth. is. espoused. by. most. politicians. and. economists.. For. example,. Australia's.
last. Prime. Minister,. John. Howard,. said,. “The. idea. that. we. can. address. climate-
change.matters.successfully.at.the.expense.of.economic.growth.is.not.only.unreal-
istic. but. also. unacceptable”. (reported. in. Breusch. 2006).. Consequently,. mitigation.
will.depend.largely.on.human.behavioral.changes.and.technical.ixes..Any.slowing.
of. climate. change. will. be. ecologically. beneicial. because. it. will. allow. more. time.
for. evolutionary. adaptation. to. occur.. Coastal. adaptive. approaches. include. various.
engineered. defenses,. legislating. for. setbacks,. and. the. minimization. of. nonclimate.
pressures.(e.g.,.pollution,.off-road.vehicles).in.an.attempt.to.enhance.the.resilience.
of.ecosystems.
Ecological. resilience. has. been. deined. as. “returning. to. the. reference. state. (or.
dynamic). after. a. temporary. disturbance”. (Grimm. and. Wissel. 1997,. p.. 323).. It. is.
one. of. the.components. of. stability,.the.others.being. constancy. (staying.essentially.
unchanged). and. persistence. (persistence. through. time. of. an. ecological. system)..
Unfortunately,.these.terms.are.plagued.by.dificulties.and.ambiguities.(Grimm.and.
Wissel. 1997).. For. example,. constancy. is. similar. to. resistance. (the. ability. to. resist.
disturbance.without.substantial.change).and.resilience.is.similar.to.recovery.(return.
to.a.reference.state.following.ecological.impacts).and.elasticity.(speed.of.return.to.a.
reference.state)..Resilience.is.used.here.to.incorporate.the.concepts.of.recovery.and.
resistance.because.these.are.issues.of.management.interest..Note.that.the.recovery.
component. applies. to. pulse. disturbances. such. as. storms. in. which. the. disturbance.
is. temporary. and. ecological. recovery. is. likely.. Importantly,. climate. change. also.
imposes. press. disturbances. (e.g.,. higher. temperatures. and. acidity),. which. persist..
Recovery. to. the. original. regime. may. not. occur. unless. acclimation. or. adaptation.
takes.place..If.not,.resistance.becomes.an.important.management.question,.e.g.,.what.
fall.in.pH.can.be.tolerated.before.an.alternative.state.arises?
To. further. complicate. the. concept. of. resilience,. it. has. evolved. to. incorporate.
socioeconomic.components.(IPCC.2001).and.has.become.a.management.buzzword.
(see,. e.g.,. Walker. and. Salt. 2006;. Gotts. 2007).. It. has. arisen. because. of. two. false.
assumptions. in. natural. resource. policy.. The. irst. assumption. is. that. ecosystem.
responses.to.human.use.are.linear,.predictable,.and.controllable..The.second.is.that.
human.and.natural.systems.can.be.treated.independently..In.this.context,.resilience.
science.acknowledges.humans.as.components.of.ecosystems.and.focuses.on.social-
ecological.systems.(SESs).in.an.integrated.manner.(e.g.,.Folke.2006;.Walker.et.al..
2006)..It.addresses.questions.of.sustainability.in.a.complex.and.changing.world..A.
resilient.system.is.one.whose.ecological.and.socioeconomic.subsystems.can.either.
resist.stresses/disturbances.or.else.recover.in.an.acceptable.time.frame.
