Table 1. Characteristics of ecological resilience and examples of their application (Orians 1975, Westman 1985, Westman and O’Leary 1986).
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Characteristic |
Definition |
Example |
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Inertia |
The magnitude of resistance to change |
The grazing pressure required to affect change in percent plant cover |
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Elasticity |
The period of restoration to a reference condition following
disturbance |
The time required to return to 70% plant cover |
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Amplitude |
The threshold or magnitude of change as a result
of a disturbance from which a system will return to a reference state |
The amount of reduction in plant cover from initial conditions in concert with a
drought |
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Hysteresis |
The degree to which the path of restoration is an exact reversal of the path of
degradation |
The degree to which the recovery of plant cover is not an exact reversal of
the pattern of decline |
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Malleability |
The degree to which the state established after a disturbance differs from
the original state |
The percent plant cover before drought compared to that after
drought |
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Damping |
The pattern of oscillations in an ecosystem
component following disturbance |
Changes in percent vegetation cover following disturbance |
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