20 Result(s)

Article

Transformation starts at the periphery of networks where pushback is less

Complex systems ranging from societies to ecological communities and power grids may be viewed as networks of connected elements. Such systems can go through critical transitions driven by an avalanche of cont...

Ingrid A. van de Leemput, Jordi Bascompte, Willem Bastiaan Buddendorf… in Scientific Reports (2024)

Article

Northern expansion is not compensating for southern declines in North American boreal forests

Climate change is expected to shift the boreal biome northward through expansion at the northern and contraction at the southern boundary respectively. However, biome-scale evidence of such a shift is rare. He...

Ronny Rotbarth, Egbert H. Van Nes, Marten Scheffer… in Nature Communications (2023)

Article

Some species flourish when many do not: a pattern in data on ecological communities

Patterns in species × sample tables of communities depend above all on the organisms of the data sets and the conditions involved. Patterns that surpass individual sets are of special interest. Our question, l...

Gerben Straatsma, Edwin T. H. M. Peeters, Egbert H. van Nes in Community Ecology (2021)

Article

A potential feedback loop underlying glacial-interglacial cycles

The sawtooth-patterned glacial-interglacial cycles in the Earth’s atmospheric temperature are a well-known, though poorly understood phenomenon. Pinpointing the relevant mechanisms behind these cycles will not...

Els Weinans, Anne Willem Omta, George A. K. van Voorn… in Climate Dynamics (2021)

Article

Evaluating the performance of multivariate indicators of resilience loss

Various complex systems, such as the climate, ecosystems, and physical and mental health can show large shifts in response to small changes in their environment. These ‘tip** points’ are notoriously hard to ...

Els Weinans, Rick Quax, Egbert H. van Nes, Ingrid A. van de Leemput in Scientific Reports (2021)

Article

Hysteresis of tropical forests in the 21st century

Tropical forests modify the conditions they depend on through feedbacks at different spatial scales. These feedbacks shape the hysteresis (history-dependence) of tropical forests, thus controlling their resili...

Arie Staal, Ingo Fetzer, Lan Wang-Erlandsson, Joyce H. C. Bosmans… in Nature Communications (2020)

Article

Inferring causation from time series in Earth system sciences

The heart of the scientific enterprise is a rational effort to understand the causes behind the phenomena we observe. In large-scale complex dynamical systems such as the Earth system, real experiments are rar...

Jakob Runge, Sebastian Bathiany, Erik Bollt, Gustau Camps-Valls… in Nature Communications (2019)

Article

Slow Recovery from Local Disturbances as an Indicator for Loss of Ecosystem Resilience

A range of indicators have been proposed for identifying the elevated risk of critical transitions in ecosystems. Most indicators are based on the idea that critical slowing down can be inferred from changes i...

Ingrid A. van de Leemput, Vasilis Dakos, Marten Scheffer, Egbert H. van Nes in Ecosystems (2018)

Article

Rare, Intense, Big fires dominate the global tropics under drier conditions

Wildfires burn large parts of the tropics every year, sha** ecosystem structure and functioning. Yet the complex interplay between climate, vegetation and human factors that drives fire dynamics is still poo...

Stijn Hantson, Marten Scheffer, Salvador Pueyo, Chi Xu, Gitta Lasslop… in Scientific Reports (2017)

Article

Erratum to: Multiple feedbacks and the prevalence of alternate stable states on coral reefs

Ingrid A. van de Leemput, Terry P. Hughes, Egbert H. van Nes… in Coral Reefs (2016)

Article

Bistability, Spatial Interaction, and the Distribution of Tropical Forests and Savannas

Recent work has indicated that tropical forest and savanna can be alternative stable states under a range of climatic conditions. However, dynamical systems theory suggests that in case of strong spatial inter...

Arie Staal, Stefan C. Dekker, Chi Xu, Egbert H. van Nes in Ecosystems (2016)

Article

Correction: Corrigendum: Recovery rates reflect distance to a tip** point in a living system

Nature 481, 357–359 (2012) There was a scaling error in the light attenuation values of Fig. 1 and Supplementary Fig. 2.1 (about 210 should have been subtracted from each value). Also, the sentence “We perturb...

Annelies J. Veraart, Elisabeth J. Faassen, Vasilis Dakos, Egbert H. van Nes… in Nature (2012)

Article

Challenges and opportunities for integrating lake ecosystem modelling approaches

A large number and wide variety of lake ecosystem models have been developed and published during the past four decades. We identify two challenges for making further progress in this field. One such challenge...

Wolf M. Mooij, Dennis Trolle, Erik Jeppesen, George Arhonditsis… in Aquatic Ecology (2010)

Article

Alternative Stable States Driven by Density-Dependent Toxicity

Many populations are exposed to naturally occurring or synthetic toxicants. An increasing number of studies demonstrate that the toxicity of such compounds is not only dependent on the concentration or load, b...

Tjisse van der Heide, Egbert H. van Nes, Marieke M. van Katwijk… in Ecosystems (2010)

Article

Spatial correlation as leading indicator of catastrophic shifts

Generic early-warning signals such as increased autocorrelation and variance have been demonstrated in time-series of systems with alternative stable states approaching a critical transition. However, lag time...

Vasilis Dakos, Egbert H. van Nes, Raúl Donangelo, Hugo Fort… in Theoretical Ecology (2010)

Article

Omnivory by Planktivores Stabilizes Plankton Dynamics, but May Either Promote or Reduce Algal Biomass

Classical models of phytoplankton–zooplankton interaction show that with nutrient enrichment such systems may abruptly shift from limit cycles to stable phytoplankton domination due to zooplankton predation by...

José Luiz Attayde, Egbert H. van Nes, Aderaldo I. L. Araujo, Gilberto Corso… in Ecosystems (2010)

Article

Effects of Submerged Vegetation on Water Clarity Across Climates

A positive feedback between submerged vegetation and water clarity forms the backbone of the alternative state theory in shallow lakes. The water clearing effect of aquatic vegetation may be caused by differen...

Sarian Kosten, Gissell Lacerot, Erik Jeppesen, David da Motta Marques… in Ecosystems (2009)

Article

Pulse-Driven Loss of Top-Down Control: The Critical-Rate Hypothesis

In systems ranging from lakes and woodlands to coral reefs, the long-term ecosystem state may often be determined largely by rare extreme events such as wet ENSO years, droughts, or disease outbreaks. Such eve...

Marten Scheffer, Egbert H. van Nes, Milena Holmgren, Terry Hughes in Ecosystems (2008)

Article

Shallow lakes theory revisited: various alternative regimes driven by climate, nutrients, depth and lake size

Shallow lakes have become the archetypical example of ecosystems with alternative stable states. However, since the early conception of that theory, the image of ecosystem stability has been elaborated for sha...

Marten Scheffer, Egbert H. van Nes in Hydrobiologia (2007)

Article

A Theory for Cyclic Shifts between Alternative States in Shallow Lakes

Some shallow lakes switch repeatedly back and forth between a vegetation dominated clear-water state and a contrasting turbid state. Usually such alternations occur quite irregularly, but in some cases the swi...

Egbert H. van Nes, Winnie J. Rip, Marten Scheffer in Ecosystems (2007)