Multiple interception pathways for resource utilisation and increased ecosystem resilience

Abstract

Natural ecosystems consist of multiple pathways for resource capture and energy flow. As landscapes become impacted, the diversity of these pathways is reduced and ecosystem health suffers. Efficient resource processing is essential for successful ecosystem restoration and yet little information is available relating the two issues. Disturbances to terrestrial, marine, and freshwater environments have decreased the complexity of such ecosystems thus reducing their resilience to increases in resource loading from anthropogenic sources. The effects of a reduction in the number of pathways are observed in terminal water bodies where increased levels of nutrients are not successfully intercepted beforehand, and conditions often favour a single phytoplankton pathway, resulting in algal blooms. If a suitable number of pathways is restored, significant amounts of resources may be retained, reducing the impacts on downstream ecosystems. The restoration of functional diversity is likely to provide process redundancy and therefore improve ecosystem resilience to further disturbance. This concept provides a more holistic approach to management strategies that may enhance resource interception, while restoring habitat and biological diversity.