Most ecosystems are affected by anthropogenic or natural pulse disturbances, which alter
the community composition and functioning for a limited period of time. Whether and how …

Quantifying stability properties of ecosystems is an important problem in ecology. A common
approach is based on the recovery from pulse perturbations, and posits that the faster an …

We propose four postulates as the minimum set of logical propositions necessary for a
theory of pulse dynamics and disturbance in ecosystems:(1) resource dynamics …

Many natural disturbances have a strong climate forcing, and concern is rising about how
ecosystems will respond to disturbance regimes to which they are not adapted. Novelty can …

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 …

The topics of succession and post‐disturbance ecosystem recovery have a long and
convoluted history. There is extensive redundancy within this body of theory, which has …

All species have evolved in the presence of disturbance, and thus are in a sense matched to
the recurrence pattern of the perturbations. Consequently, disturbances within the typical …

Understanding the stability of ecological communities is a matter of increasing importance in
the context of global environmental change. Yet it has proved to be a challenging task …

Theory suggests that gradual environmental change may erode the resilience of ecosystems
and increase their susceptibility to critical transitions. This notion has received a lot of …

Over the last several decades, there has been a growing appreciation of the importance of
nonequilibrial phenomena and transient dynamics in explaining the structure of ecological …