One way to look at the structures and processes of a social-ecological system is through “discontinuities,” which are gaps between clusters of system components. Discontinuity theory identifies patterns at different spatial and temporal scales in a system, which can be used to match system components to the resources and the scale(s) those components are operating at, with research and management implications. We take a look at discontinuity theory through a study of animal sizes in ecosystems, which is how many of the ideas about discontinuities first arose in the scientific literature. We also examine proposed management applications for discontinuity theory.
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References:
Angeler, D.G., Allen, C.R., Barichievy, C., Eason, T.,... 2016. Management applications of discontinuity theory. Journal of Applied Ecology, 53, 688-698.
Cusick, D. 2021, July 20. Cities pledge more green space to combat urban heat. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cities-pledge-more-green-space-to-combat-urban-heat/
Hilden, N. 2021, Aug. 3. Future space travel might require mushrooms. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/space-travels-most-surprising-future-ingredient-mushrooms/
Holling, C.S. 1992. Cross-scale morphology, geometry, and dynamics of ecosystems. Ecological Monographs, 62(4), 447-502.
Flavelle, C. 2021, Aug. 5. Biden announces record amount of climate resilience funding. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/05/climate/FEMA-disaster-money-climate.html
Nash, K.L., Allen, C.R., Angeler, D.G., Barichievy, C., Eason, T., Garmestani, A.S. et al. 2014. Discontinuities, cross-scale patterns and the organization of ecosystems. Ecology, 95, 654–667.
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