Resilience

Resilience is the capacity of an ecosystem to absorb disturbance and reorganize while retaining the same function, structure, and feedbacks, rather than shifting to a degraded alternative state. A resilient coral reef recovers its coral cover after a bleaching event; a reef that has lost herbivory may instead flip to an algae-dominated state and stay there. The concept, developed by C.S. Holling in 1973, distinguishes engineering resilience (speed of return to equilibrium) from ecological resilience (the disturbance a system absorbs before crossing a threshold). It guides management aimed at maintaining biodiversity, connectivity, and functional redundancy so systems can withstand cumulative and climate stressors. Resilience thinking underpins adaptive management.