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Complex systems

Foreseeing tipping points

Theory suggests that the risk of critical transitions in complex systems can be revealed by generic indicators. A lab study of extinction in plankton populations provides experimental support for that principle. See Letter p. 456

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Figure 1: Tipping points and leading indicators.

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Scheffer, M. Foreseeing tipping points. Nature 467, 411–412 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/467411a

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