Threshold Concepts: Implications for the Management of Natural Resources

Threshold concepts can have broad relevance in natural resource management. However, the concept of ecological thresholds has not been widely incorporated or adopted in management goals. This largely stems from the uncertainty revolving around threshold levels and the post hoc analyses that have generally been used to identify them. Natural resource managers have a need for new tools and approaches that will help them assess the existence and detection of conditions that demand management actions. Recognition of additional threshold concepts include: utility thresholds (which are based on human values about ecological systems) and decision thresholds (which reflect management objectives and values and include ecological knowledge about a system) as well as ecological thresholds. All of these concepts provide a framework for considering the use of threshold concepts in natural resource decision making.

[1]  Max Henrion,et al.  Uncertainty: A Guide to Dealing with Uncertainty in Quantitative Risk and Policy Analysis , 1990 .

[2]  Glenn W. Suter,et al.  Ecological risk assessment , 2006 .

[3]  Michael C Runge,et al.  Structured decision making as a conceptual framework to identify thresholds for conservation and management. , 2009, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[4]  C. S. Holling.  Resilience and Stability of Ecological Systems , 1973 .

[5]  S. Carpenter,et al.  Early-warning signals for critical transitions , 2009, Nature.

[6]  Gentile Francesco Ficetola,et al.  Ecological thresholds: an assessment of methods to identify abrupt changes in species-habitat relationships , 2009 .

[7]  Non-linearities in the Earth System , 2003 .

[8]  Jameal F. Samhouri,et al.  Identifying Thresholds for Ecosystem-Based Management , 2010, PloS one.

[9]  Jason S. Link,et al.  Marine ecosystem assessment in a fisheries management context , 2002 .

[10]  Monica G. Turner,et al.  Ecological Thresholds: The Key to Successful Environmental Management or an Important Concept with No Practical Application? , 2006, Ecosystems.

[11]  S. Carpenter,et al.  Catastrophic regime shifts in ecosystems: linking theory to observation , 2003 .

[12]  Richard J Hobbs,et al.  Threshold models in restoration and conservation: a developing framework. , 2009, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[13]  Richard J. Hobbs,et al.  New Models for Ecosystem Dynamics and Restoration , 2009 .

[14]  S. Carpenter,et al.  Turning back from the brink: Detecting an impending regime shift in time to avert it , 2009, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[15]  B. Bestelmeyer.  Threshold Concepts and Their Use in Rangeland Management and Restoration: The Good, the Bad, and the Insidious , 2006 .

[16]  T. Allen,et al.  Toward a Unified Ecology. , 1994 .

[17]  H. Tong,et al.  Common dynamic structure of canada lynx populations within three climatic regions , 1999, Science.

[18]  S. Carpenter,et al.  Decision-making under great uncertainty: environmental management in an era of global change. , 2011, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[19]  C. S. Holling,et al.  Regime Shifts, Resilience, and Biodiversity in Ecosystem Management , 2004 .

[20]  Emilio Hernández-García,et al.  Ecological thresholds and regime shifts: approaches to identification. , 2009, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[21]  John E. Gross,et al.  Linking Monitoring to Management and Planning: Assessment Points as a Generalized Approach , 2007 .

[22]  S. Carpenter,et al.  Anticipating Critical Transitions , 2012, Science.

[23]  David D. Briske,et al.  A Unified Framework for Assessment and Application of Ecological Thresholds , 2006 .

[24]  Stephen R. Carpenter,et al.  Regime shifts in lake ecosystems : pattern and variation , 2003 .

[25]  Frederic E. Clements,et al.  Nature and Structure of the Climax , 1936 .

[26]  Karen L. McLeod,et al.  The many faces of ecosystem-based management: Making the process work today in real places , 2010 .

[27]  A. Huggett.  The concept and utility of ecological thresholds in biodiversity conservation , 2005 .

[28]  C. Holling,et al.  Command and Control and the Pathology of Natural Resource Management , 1996 .

[29]  S. Carpenter,et al.  Rising variance: a leading indicator of ecological transition. , 2006, Ecology letters.

[30]  R. E. Grumbine.  What Is Ecosystem Management , 1994 .

[31]  D. DeAngelis,et al.  Equilibrium and Nonequilibrium Concepts in Ecological Models , 1987 .