Resilience and Land Use Change

The trouble with a complex world

Our climate will change, but we still don't know in much detail what the changes will be, or when, or how fast they will occur. Even if we had a clearer timetable, the natural world on which we depend is made up of millions of species, processes and relationships (e.g. predator-prey, or parasite-host). So, we can't hope to predict all the resulting consequences of climate change.

When the going gets tough ...

For our natural and managed ecosystems, the best response to this uncertainty is to make them tougher - to increase their resilience. This means that wildlife populations are stronger and less likely to suffer local extinction, habitats are more resistant to changes, and ecosystem services (like pollination or flood control) are more likely to be maintained. Ecosystem resilience can be improved by:

• changing or improving the condition of habitats, and/or by
• land use change - improving the spatial arrangement of habitats (area, shape, connectivity and so on).

Examples:

• Upland hydrology/flood damage limitation
• Fragmented habitats and climate change range shifts
• Woodland regeneration
• Altering habitat condition to buffer species/habitats from negative effects
• Individual species management (SBS/SAF)