Stress Tolerance of Ecosystems

Abstract

It is conventionally argued that a stable ecosystem, namely one with high species-diversity and high constancy in physical parameters, is less sensitive to additional stress than a system with varying physical parameters and low species-diversity. By this logic, the Baltic would be more susceptible to additional stress, such as that of pollution, than the North Sea.Examples of irreparable damage to some of the most stable ecosystems in the world, such as coral reefs and tropical rain-forests, suggest, on the contrary, that these systems are more vulnerable than low-diversity ecosystems, such as a brackish-water zone in the mouth of a river or a coniferous forest in a temperate region.Studies of stress tolerance in estuaries showed that the species already living under stress, such as that of reduced and changing salinities, were more tolerant to pollution than species in a less fluctuating environment. This adaptability to environmental changes seems to be characteristic of ecosystems with a low degree of individual specialization and high genetic diversity (i.e. a large number of alleles). Following this conclusion, we question the underlying assumptions in the statement that for example the Baltic Sea, which can be regarded as a large estuary, is an area particularly susceptible to stress; purely marine ecosystems are probably more sensitive.Ecosystem stress-tolerance should be made a top priority in ecological research; this is a necessity inter alia for future localization of industries, in order to minimize their effects on the environment.