Ecosystem Stability Determined by Two Simple Factors

Ecosystem stability has three phases, a bit like ice, water and steam. Find out how a new study explains how ecologists could predict these phases by gathering only two simple pieces of information.

I live in a part of Canada’s Province of Ontario called the Headwaters. Four of the major rivers that feed the Great Lakes begin their course in the highlands around here.

The Great Lakes contain 18% of the world’s freshwater. As a result, they provide more than 40 million people with their drinking water.

The watersheds in the Great Lakes Basin also include 43 habitats where ecosystem stability is at risk. Known as Areas of Concern (AOCs), they’re experiencing water quality problems, loss of fish and wildlife habitat and contaminated beaches.

Environmental Habitats are Complex Systems

Environmental habitats are complex systems. Thousands of species typically interact within a unique geological setting.

Understanding, predicting and adapting to complex systems is always a major challenge for scientists and engineers. That’s what led scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of…