Resisting-Accepting-Directing: Ecosystem Management Guided by an Ecological Resilience Assessment

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Environmental Management
• Conservation Biology

Background:

• Anthropogenic impacts are driving ecosystems toward tipping points and novel states, complicating management decisions.
• Understanding ecosystem regime shifts and resilience is crucial for effective management under uncertainty.
• The Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) faces rapid environmental changes, necessitating adaptive management strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify alternate ecological regimes and understand factors governing regime shifts in the UMRS.
• To integrate ecological resilience assessment findings with the resist-accept-direct (RAD) framework for management guidance.
• To develop strategies for managing aquatic vegetation, floodplain vegetation, and fish communities under changing conditions.

Main Methods:

• Collaborative research between scientists and managers to assess ecological resilience.
• Identification of alternate regimes, thresholds, and governing factors for regime shifts.
• Application of the resist-accept-direct (RAD) framework using knowledge of current conditions, threshold proximity, and general resilience.

Main Results:

• Developed guidance for navigating the RAD framework based on ecological dynamics.
• Applied guidance to outline resist, accept, or direct strategies for UMRS vegetation and fish communities.
• Provided a case study demonstrating the integration of ecological knowledge into management feasibility assessments.

Conclusions:

• Knowledge of ecological dynamics and resilience is essential for effective ecosystem management in a changing world.
• The RAD framework offers a structured approach to managing ecosystems undergoing regime shifts.
• Adaptive management and continued learning are critical for achieving desirable and resilient ecosystem outcomes.