title: Navigating the complexity of ecological stability.
abstract: Human actions challenge nature in many ways. Ecological responses are ineluctably complex, demanding measures that describe them succinctly. Collectively, these measures encapsulate the overall 'stability' of the system. Many international bodies, including the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, broadly aspire to maintain or enhance ecological stability. Such bodies frequently use terms pertaining to stability that lack clear definition. Consequently, we cannot measure them and so they disconnect from a large body of theoretical and empirical understanding. We assess the scientific and policy literature and show that this disconnect is one consequence of an inconsistent and one-dimensional approach that ecologists have taken to both disturbances and stability. This has led to confused communication of the nature of stability and the level of our insight into it. Disturbances and stability are multidimensional. Our understanding of them is not. We have a remarkably poor understanding of the impacts on stability of the characteristics that define many, perhaps all, of the most important elements of global change. We provide recommendations for theoreticians, empiricists and policymakers on how to better integrate the multidimensional nature of ecological stability into their research, policies and actions.
authors.affiliation: School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.|Trinity Centre for Biodiversity Research, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Donohue
authors.affiliation: Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hillebrand
authors.affiliation: Theoretical and Experimental Ecological Station, CNRS, UPS, Moulis, France.
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Montoya
authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Owen L
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Petchey
authors.affiliation: Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Stuart L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Pimm
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Wales, UK.
authors.forename: Mike S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Fowler
authors.affiliation: School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.|Trinity Centre for Biodiversity Research, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Healy
authors.affiliation: School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.|Trinity Centre for Biodiversity Research, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Andrew L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.affiliation: Environment Institute and School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lurgi
authors.affiliation: School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.|Trinity Centre for Biodiversity Research, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Deirdre
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McClean
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
authors.forename: Nessa E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Eoin J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: O'Gorman
authors.affiliation: School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.|Trinity Centre for Biodiversity Research, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D009626:Terminology as Topic
keywords: Conservation; disturbance; extinction; invasion; persistence; policy; resilience; resistance; sustainability; variability