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Defining and quantifying the resilience of responses to disturbance: a conceptual and modelling approach from soil science.

ABSTRACT: There are several conceptual definitions of resilience pertaining to environmental systems and, even if resilience is clearly defined in a particular context, it is challenging to quantify. We identify four characteristics of the response of a system function to disturbance that relate to "resilience": (1) degree of return of the function to a reference level; (2) time taken to reach a new quasi-stable state; (3) rate (i.e. gradient) at which the function reaches the new state; (4) cumulative magnitude of the function (i.e. area under the curve) before a new state is reached. We develop metrics to quantify these characteristics based on an analogy with a mechanical spring and damper system. Using the example of the response of a soil function (respiration) to disturbance, we demonstrate that these metrics effectively discriminate key features of the dynamic response. Although any one of these characteristics could define resilience, each may lead to different insights and conclusions. The salient properties of a resilient response must thus be identified for different contexts. Because the temporal resolution of data affects the accurate determination of these metrics, we recommend that at least twelve measurements are made over the temporal range for which the response is expected.

SUBMITTER: Todman LC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4916505 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Defining and quantifying the resilience of responses to disturbance: a conceptual and modelling approach from soil science.

Todman L C LC Fraser F C FC Corstanje R R Deeks L K LK Harris J A JA Pawlett M M Ritz K K Whitmore A P AP

Scientific reports 20160622

There are several conceptual definitions of resilience pertaining to environmental systems and, even if resilience is clearly defined in a particular context, it is challenging to quantify. We identify four characteristics of the response of a system function to disturbance that relate to "resilience": (1) degree of return of the function to a reference level; (2) time taken to reach a new quasi-stable state; (3) rate (i.e. gradient) at which the function reaches the new state; (4) cumulative ma ...[more]

PMID: 27329053

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Project description:There is a growing interest of overcoming the uncertainty related to the cumulative impacts of multiple disturbances of different nature in all ecosystems. With global change leading to acute environmental disturbances, recent studies demonstrated a significant increase in the possible number of interactions between disturbances that can generate complex, non-additive effects on ecosystems functioning. However, how the chronology of disturbances can affect ecosystems functioning is unknown even though there is increasing evidence that community assembly history dictates ecosystems functioning. Here, we experimentally examined the importance of the disturbances chronology in modulating the resilience of soil microbial communities and N-cycle related functions. We studied the impact of 3-way combinations of global change related disturbances on total bacterial diversity and composition, on the abundance of N-cycle related guilds and on N-cycle related activities in soil microcosms. The model pulse disturbances, i.e., short-term ceasing disturbances studied were heat, freeze-thaw and anaerobic cycles. We determined that repeated disturbances of the same nature can either lead to the resilience or to shifts in N-cycle related functions concomitant with diversity loss. When considering disturbances of different nature, we demonstrated that the chronology of compounded disturbances impacting an ecosystem determines the aggregated impact on ecosystem properties and functions. Thus, after 3 weeks the impact of the 'anoxia/heat/freeze-thaw' sequence was almost two times stronger than that of the 'heat/anoxia/freeze-thaw' sequence. Finally, we showed that about 29% of the observed variance in ecosystem aggregated impact caused by series of disturbances could be attributed to changes in the microbial community composition measured by weighted UniFrac distances. This indicates that surveying changes in bacterial community composition can help predict the strength of the impact of compounded disturbances on N-related functions and properties.

Project description:Mounting evidence indicates that worldwide, innovation systems are increasing unsustainable. Equally, concerns about inequities in the science and innovation process, and in access to its benefits, continue. Against a backdrop of growing health, economic and scientific challenges global stakeholders are urgently seeking to spur innovation and maximize the just distribution of benefits for all. Open Science collaboration (OS) - comprising a variety of approaches to increase open, public, and rapid mobilization of scientific knowledge - is seen to be one of the most promising ways forward. Yet, many decision-makers hesitate to construct policy to support the adoption and implementation of OS without access to substantive, clear and reliable evidence. In October 2017, international thought-leaders gathered at an Open Science Leadership Forum in the Washington DC offices of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to share their views on what successful Open Science looks like. Delegates from developed and developing nations, national governments, science agencies and funding bodies, philanthropy, researchers, patient organizations and the biotechnology, pharma and artificial intelligence (AI) industries discussed the outcomes that would rally them to invest in OS, as well as wider issues of policy and implementation. This first of two reports, summarizes delegates' views on what they believe OS will deliver in terms of research, innovation and social impact in the life sciences. Through open and collaborative process over the next months, we will translate these success outcomes into a toolkit of quantitative and qualitative indicators to assess when, where and how open science collaborations best advance research, innovation and social benefit. Ultimately, this work aims to develop and openly share tools to allow stakeholders to evaluate and re-invent their innovation ecosystems, to maximize value for the global public and patients, and address long-standing questions about the mechanics of innovation.

Project description:BackgroundArtemisinin-resistant falciparum malaria has emerged in Southeast Asia, posing a major threat to malaria control. It is characterised by delayed asexual-stage parasite clearance, which is the reference comparator for the molecular marker 'Kelch 13' and in vitro sensitivity tests. However, current cut-off values denoting slow clearance based on the proportion of individuals remaining parasitaemic on the third day of treatment ('day-3'), or on peripheral blood parasite half-life, are not well supported. We here explore the parasite clearance distributions in an area of artemisinin resistance with the aim refining the in vivo phenotypic definitions.Methods and findingsData from 1,518 patients on the Thai-Myanmar and Thai-Cambodian borders with parasite half-life assessments after artesunate treatment were analysed. Half-lives followed a bimodal distribution. A statistical approach was developed to infer the characteristics of the component distributions and their relative contribution to the composite mixture. A model representing two parasite subpopulations with geometric mean (IQR) parasite half-lives of 3.0 (2.4-3.9) hours and 6.50 (5.7-7.4) hours was consistent with the data. For individual patients, the parasite half-life provided a predicted likelihood of an artemisinin-resistant infection which depends on the population prevalence of resistance in that area. Consequently, a half-life where the probability is 0.5 varied between 3.5 and 5.5 hours. Using this model, the current 'day-3' cut-off value of 10% predicts the potential presence of artemisinin-resistant infections in most but not all scenarios. These findings are relevant to the low-transmission setting of Southeast Asia. Generalisation to a high transmission setting as in regions of Sub-Saharan Africa will need additional evaluation.ConclusionsCharacterisation of overlapping distributions of parasite half-lives provides quantitative insight into the relationship between parasite clearance and artemisinin resistance, as well as the predictive value of the 10% cut-off in 'day-3' parasitaemia. The findings are important for the interpretation of in vitro sensitivity tests and molecular markers for artemisinin resistance and for contextualising the 'day 3' threshold to account for initial parasitaemia and sample size.

Dataset Information

Defining and quantifying the resilience of responses to disturbance: a conceptual and modelling approach from soil science.

Publications

Defining and quantifying the resilience of responses to disturbance: a conceptual and modelling approach from soil science.

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