STABILITY

Definitions:

• dynamic equilibrium of population,

community or ecosystem size & structure
• the ability of populations & communities to
withstand environmental perturbation & to
accommodate change
• The system respond to temporary slight
disturbances by returning to its original
position

3 basic types of stability:

xi. Constancy

A lack of change in some parameter of a system,

eg. no. of species, taxonomic composition,
life-form structure of a community, size of a
population or some feature of the
environment
ii. Resilience

The ability of a system to recover & continue

functioning even though its composition &
structure may have changed substantially

Community is able to continue functioning as a

viable system

iii. Inertia

The ability of a system to withstand or resist

perturbations
Term Concept
Constancy A lack of change in some parameter of a
system

Inertia The ability of a system to resist external

perturbations

Resilience The ability to continue functioning after

perturbation

Persistence The survival time of a system or some

component of it

Elasticity The speed with which the system returns

to its former state following a
perturbation

Amplitude The area over which a system is stable

Cyclical stability The property of a system to oscillate

around some central point or zone

Trajectory The property of a system to move towards

stability some final end point or zone despite
differences in starting point
Stability of Communities

Stability in structure of the community:

• a constancy of trophic form of food web design

• a resilience in the mode & balance of the

community’s operation

• interactions between populations influence the

stability of the community

• evidence for the actual resilience or constancy

of an existing community come from the
community which has been disturbed but not
entirely destroyed

• eg. vertebrate at logging area in West Msia:

Trophic structure of the mammal returned
towards its original state;
Species composition & number changed, but the
relative balance of numbers in different trophic
categories suggest some recovery towards the
original structure
• complexity of community
structure stability
• species diversity

• The environmental stability permits the

development of high diversity & ensure the
continued stability of a high-diversity system

A complex system:
• greater potential to accommodate change
through minor adjustments within its structure

• redirecting the community relationships to

absorb the perturbation

• community resilience as a function of the

diversity of energy-exchange pathways within the
community
• a positive link between the diversity of energy
exchange pathways within a web & the resilience
of that system

• in a stable community species are generally

limited in the number of links in which they may
engage