Toward a cohesive understanding of ecological complexity

Abstract

Ecological systems are quintessentially complex systems. Understanding and being able to predict phenomena typical of complex systems is, therefore, critical to progress in ecology and conservation amidst escalating global environmental change. However, myriad definitions of complexity and excessive reliance on conventional scientific approaches hamper conceptual advances and synthesis. Ecological complexity may be better understood by following the solid theoretical basis of complex system science (CSS). We review features of ecological systems described within CSS and conduct bibliometric and text mining analyses to characterize articles that refer to ecological complexity. Our analyses demonstrate that the study of complexity in ecology is a highly heterogeneous, global endeavor that is only weakly related to CSS. Current research trends are typically organized around basic theory, scaling, and macroecology. We leverage our review and the generalities identified in our analyses to suggest a more coherent and cohesive way forward in the study of complexity in ecology.

Explore before you restore: Incorporating complex systems thinking in ecosystem restoration

“…In other words, ecosystem complexity itself poses constraints to restoration success (Munson et al, 2018;Van Nes et al, 2016). Namely, natural ecosystems are Complex Systems, which are studied in the discipline of Complex Systems Science (CSS) and defined by eight emergent properties: heterogeneity, hierarchy, self-organization, openness, adaptation, memory, non-linearity and uncertainty (Appendix S1; Anand et al, 2010;Bullock et al, 2021;Filotas et al, 2014;Riva et al, 2022). Here, we emphasize three key concepts linked to the specific CSS property of non-linearity that we believe hold pivotal implications for restoration outcomes from an ecological perspective: regime shifts (and potential hysteresis), ecological resilience and ecological feedbacks.…”

Habitat isolation diminishes potential of self-organised pattern formation to promote local diversity in metacommunities

“…Furthermore, processes on the local and regional scale are often interdependent and interact (Logue et al, 2011), which can lead to the emergence of complex dynamics on the metacommunity scale. Viewing (meta-)ecosystems as complex systems can help to understand potential effects of global change and is thus becoming increasingly relevant in scientific literature (Bauer et al, 2021; Riva et al, 2023). It is however not well established how complex dynamics and feedback mechanisms in metacommunities affect their diversity and how these effects are dependent on the spatial structure.…”

“…Agriculture, settlements and other human land uses are increasingly fragmenting natural landscapes into separate habitat patches. From an ecological perspective, these habitats are linked through the dispersal of species into large-scale metacommunities, which are often characterised by irregular spatial structures and complex dynamics, and they might still maintain high biodiversity (D. L. Urban and Keitt, 2001;Leibold et al, 2004;Holyoak et al, 2005;Holland and Hastings, 2008;Riva et al, 2023). The spatial structure of metacommunities, i.e., the number of habitat patches and dispersal pathways ('links') between them (Fig.…”