A General Pattern of Trade-offs Between Ecosystem Resistance and Resilience to Tropical Cyclones

Authors

• Christopher J. Patrick, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
• John S. Kominoski, Florida International University
• William H. McDowell, University of New Hampshire, Durham
• Benjamin Branoff, University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras
• David Lagomasino, East Carolina University
• Miguel Leon, University of New Hampshire, Durham
• Enie Hensel, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
• Marc J. S. Hensel, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
• Bradley A. Strickland, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
• T. Mitchell Aide, University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras
• Anna Armitage, Texas A&M University at Galveston
• Marconi Campos-Cerqueira, Rainforest Connection
• Victoria M. Congdon, University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute
• Todd A. Crowl, Florida International University
• Donna J. Devlin, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi
• Sarah Douglas, University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute
• Brad E. Erisman, University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute
• Rusty A. Feagin, Texas A&M University, College Station
• Simon J. Geist, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi
• Nathan S. Hall, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
• Amber K. Hardison, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
• Michael R. Heithaus, Florida International University
• J. Aaron Hogan, Florida International University
• J. Derek Hogan, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi
• Sean Kinard, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
• Jeremy J. Kiszka, Florida International University
• Teng-Chiu Lin, National Taiwan Normal University
• Kaijun Lu, University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute
• Christopher J. Madden, Everglades-Florida Bay Ecosystem Lab
• Paul A. Montagna, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi
• Christine S. O'Connell, Chapman UniversityFollow
• C. Edward Proffitt, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi
• Brandi Kiel Reese, Dauphin Island Sea Lab
• Joseph W. Reustle, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Kelly L. Robinson, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
• Scott A. Rush, Mississippi State University
• Rolando O. Santos, Florida International University
• Astrid Schnetzer, North Carolina State University at Raleigh
• Delbert L. Smee, Dauphin Island Sea Lab
• Rachel S. Smith, University of Virginia
• Gregory Starr, University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa
• Beth A. Stauffer, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
• Lily M. Walker, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi
• Carolyn A. Weaver, Millersville University
• Michael S. Wetz, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi
• Elizabeth R. Whitman, Florida International University
• Sara S. Wilson, Florida International University
• Jianhong Xue, University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute
• Xiaoming Zou, University of Puerto Rico

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2-2022

Abstract

Tropical cyclones drive coastal ecosystem dynamics, and their frequency, intensity, and spatial distribution are predicted to shift with climate change. Patterns of resistance and resilience were synthesized for 4138 ecosystem time series from n = 26 storms occurring between 1985 and 2018 in the Northern Hemisphere to predict how coastal ecosystems will respond to future disturbance regimes. Data were grouped by ecosystems (fresh water, salt water, terrestrial, and wetland) and response categories (biogeochemistry, hydrography, mobile biota, sedentary fauna, and vascular plants). We observed a repeated pattern of trade-offs between resistance and resilience across analyses. These patterns are likely the outcomes of evolutionary adaptation, they conform to disturbance theories, and they indicate that consistent rules may govern ecosystem susceptibility to tropical cyclones.

Comments

This article was originally published in Science Advances, volume 8, issue 9, in 2022. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abl9155

Recommended Citation

Christopher J. Patrick et al., A general pattern of trade-offs between ecosystem resistance and resilience to tropical cyclones. Sci. Adv. 8, eabl9155 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abl9155

Copyright

The authors

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License