scholarly journals Local ecosystem feedbacks and critical transitions in the climate

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Rietkerk ◽  
Victor Brovkin ◽  
Peter M. van Bodegom ◽  
Martin Claussen ◽  
Stefan C. Dekker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Transitions ◽  
Local Ecosystem

scholarly journals Local ecosystem feedbacks and critical transitions in the climate

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 10121-10136
Author(s):  
M. Rietkerk ◽  
V. Brovkin ◽  
P. M. van Bodegom ◽  
M. Claussen ◽  
S. C. Dekker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Regional Climate Models ◽  
Critical Transitions ◽  
Local Ecosystem ◽  
Large Scale Land

Abstract. Global and regional climate models, such as those used in IPCC assessments, are the best tools available for climate predictions. Such models typically account for large-scale land-atmosphere feedbacks. However, these models omit local vegetation-environment feedbacks that are crucial for critical transitions in ecosystems. Here, we reveal the hypothesis that, if the balance of feedbacks is positive at all scales, local vegetation-environment feedbacks may trigger a cascade of amplifying effects, propagating from local to large scale, possibly leading to critical transitions in the large-scale climate. We call for linking local ecosystem feedbacks with large-scale land-atmosphere feedbacks in global and regional climate models in order to yield climate predictions that we are more confident about.

scholarly journals Critical Transitions from Pastoralism to Ranching in Central Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 000-000
Author(s):  
Nikolaus Schareika ◽  
Christopher Brown ◽  
Mark Moritz
Keyword(s):  
Central Africa ◽  
Critical Transitions

scholarly journals Human–environment interactions at a short-lived Arctic mine and the long-term response of the local tundra vegetation

Polar Record ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frigga Kruse ◽  
Gary R. Nobles ◽  
Martha de Jong ◽  
Rosanne M. K. van Bodegom ◽  
G. J. M. (Gert) van Oortmerssen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Isotopic Analysis ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Habitat Creation ◽  
Waste Dumps ◽  
Threatened Plant Species ◽  
Visual Impact ◽  
Local Ecosystem

Abstract Arctic mining has a bad reputation because the extractive industry is often responsible for a suite of environmental problems. Yet, few studies explore the gap between untouched tundra and messy megaproject from a historical perspective. Our paper focuses on Advent City as a case study of the emergence of coal mining in Svalbard (Norway) coupled with the onset of mining-related environmental change. After short but intensive human activity (1904–1908), the ecosystem had a century to respond, and we observe a lasting impact on the flora in particular. With interdisciplinary contributions from historical archaeology, archaeozoology, archaeobotany and botany, supplemented by stable isotope analysis, we examine 1) which human activities initially asserted pressure on the Arctic environment, 2) whether the miners at Advent City were “eco-conscious,” for example whether they showed concern for the environment and 3) how the local ecosystem reacted after mine closure and site abandonment. Among the remains of typical mining infrastructure, we prioritised localities that revealed the subtleties of long-term anthropogenic impact. Significant pressure resulted from landscape modifications, the import of non-native animals and plants, hunting and fowling, and the indiscriminate disposal of waste material. Where it was possible to identify individual inhabitants, these shared an economic attitude of waste not, want not, but they did not hold the environment in high regard. Ground clearances, animal dung and waste dumps continue to have an effect after a hundred years. The anthropogenic interference with the fell field led to habitat creation, especially for vascular plants. The vegetation cover and biodiversity were high, but we recorded no exotic or threatened plant species. Impacted localities generally showed a reduction of the natural patchiness of plant communities, and highly eutrophic conditions were unsuitable for liverworts and lichens. Supplementary isotopic analysis of animal bones added data to the marine reservoir offset in Svalbard underlining the far-reaching potential of our multi-proxy approach. We conclude that although damaging human–environment interactions formerly took place at Advent City, these were limited and primarily left the visual impact of the ruins. The fell field is such a dynamic area that the subtle anthropogenic effects on the local tundra may soon be lost. The fauna and flora may not recover to what they were before the miners arrived, but they will continue to respond to new post-industrial circumstances.

scholarly journals Quantifying the parameter dependent basin of the unsafe regime of asymmetric Lévy-noise-induced critical transitions

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-84
Author(s):  
Jinzhong Ma ◽  
Yong Xu ◽  
Yongge Li ◽  
Ruilan Tian ◽  
Shaojuan Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lévy Noise ◽  
Stable Model ◽  
Efficient Tool ◽  
Escape Probability ◽  
Critical Transitions ◽  
Current State ◽  
Undesirable State ◽  
Parameter Dependent ◽  
Levy Noise ◽  
The Given

AbstractIn real systems, the unpredictable jump changes of the random environment can induce the critical transitions (CTs) between two non-adjacent states, which are more catastrophic. Taking an asymmetric Lévy-noise-induced tri-stable model with desirable, sub-desirable, and undesirable states as a prototype class of real systems, a prediction of the noise-induced CTs from the desirable state directly to the undesirable one is carried out. We first calculate the region that the current state of the given model is absorbed into the undesirable state based on the escape probability, which is named as the absorbed region. Then, a new concept of the parameter dependent basin of the unsafe regime (PDBUR) under the asymmetric Lévy noise is introduced. It is an efficient tool for approximately quantifying the ranges of the parameters, where the noise-induced CTs from the desirable state directly to the undesirable one may occur. More importantly, it may provide theoretical guidance for us to adopt some measures to avert a noise-induced catastrophic CT.

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