Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Resilience reconciled

Resilience scholarship continues to inspire opaque discourse and competing frameworks often inconsistent with the complexity inherent in social–ecological systems. We contend that competing conceptualizations of resilience are reconcilable, and that the core theory is useful for navigating sustainability challenges.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Competing models representing the resilience response of systems over time and to disturbances.
Fig. 2: Three-dimensional model of stability landscapes.

References

  1. Brand, F. S. & Jax, K. Ecol. Soc. 12, 23 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Holling, C. S. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 4, 1–23 (1973).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Angeler, D. G. & Allen, C. R. J. Appl. Ecol. 53, 617–624 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Cutter, S. L. et al. Glob. Environ. Change 18, 598–606 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Cote, M. & Nightingale, A. J. Prog. Hum. Geogr. 36, 475–489 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Pimm, S. L. Nature 307, 321–326 (1984).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Duarte, C. M., Conley, D. J., Carstensen, J. & Sánchez-Camacho, M. Estuaries Coasts 32, 29–36 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Gunderson, L. H. & Holling C. S. (eds) Panarchy: Understanding Transformations in Human and Natural Systems (Island Press, 2002).

  9. Grafton, R. Q. et al. Nat. Sustain. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0376-1 (2019).

  10. Angeler, D. G. et al. Adv. Ecol. Res. 60, 1–24 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Holling, C. S. (ed.) Adaptive Environmental Assessment and Management (Wiley, 1978).

  12. Garmestani, A. S. & Allen, C. R. (eds) Social-Ecological Resilience and Law (Columbia Univ. Press, 2014).

  13. Lang, D. J. et al. Sustain. Sci. 7, 25–43 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Chaffin, B. C. et al. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 41, 399–423 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Roberts, C. P., Allen, C. R., Angeler, D. G. & Twidwell, D. Nat. Clim. Change 9, 562–566 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank A. Ahmed for graphics support. This work was supported by the Department of Defense Strategic Environmental Research Development Program W912HQ-15-C-0018 and by the National Science Foundation under Grant no. OIA-1738857. The views expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and findings of the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ahjond Garmestani.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Allen, C.R., Angeler, D.G., Chaffin, B.C. et al. Resilience reconciled. Nat Sustain 2, 898–900 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0401-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0401-4

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing Anthropocene

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Anthropocene newsletter — what matters in anthropocene research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Anthropocene