Abstract
Ecological resilience, adaptive cycles, and panarchy are all concepts that have been developed to explain abrupt and often surprising changes in complex socio-ecological systems that are prone to disturbances. These types of changes involve qualitative and quantitative alterations in systems’ structures and processes. This paper uses the concepts of ecological resilience, adaptive cycles, and panarchies to compare ecological and human community systems. At least five important findings emerge from this comparison. 1) Both systems demonstrate the multiple meanings of resilience—both in terms of recovery time from disturbances and the capacity to absorb them. 2) Both systems recognize the role of diversity in contributing to resilience. 3) The comparison highlights the role of different forms of capital and 4) the importance of cross-scale interactions. 5) The comparison reveals the need for experimentation and learning to build adaptive capacities. All of these ideas have broad implications for attempting to manage complex systems with human and ecological components in the face of recurring natural disasters.
Highlights
On the morning of August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina moved inland from the Gulf of Mexico and quickly moved over the city of New Orleans
Ecological resilience, adaptive cycles, and panarchy are all concepts that have been developed to explain abrupt and often surprising changes in complex socio-ecological systems that are prone to disturbances
This paper uses the concepts of ecological resilience, adaptive cycles, and panarchies to compare ecological and human community systems
Summary
On the morning of August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina moved inland from the Gulf of Mexico and quickly moved over the city of New Orleans. System boundaries are defined in urban systems on the scales of neighborhoods, towns, counties, or metropolitan areas (Alberti and Marzluff 2004, Elmqvist et al 2004, Barthel et al 2005) showing similar nesting of ecological structures, such as patches, stands, forests and biomes (Holling 2001). The components within these boundaries interact and change in simple and complex ways at specific scales (Brand 1994), but they are subject to external processes or perturbations. The final section presents some insights on how adaptive capacity is developed through anticipation and learning
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
