Author(s)

P. Ford

Abstract

Scale, ecosystem resilience, and fire in shortgrass steppe P. Ford Rocky Mountain Research Station, USA Abstract Ecological sustainability is the central goal of ecosystem management. To achieve sustainability, ecosystems must be managed for multiple organisms, and for processes that operate over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems are differentially affected by disturbance based on the scale at which they occupy the landscape. Resilience represents the property that sustains ecosystems in the face of disturbance or permits recovery following disturbance. Scale of observation influences perceptions about ecosystem resilience. Therefore, consideration of scale and ecosystem resilience is integral to any conceptual model of the effects of disturbance on ecosystems. There is no single correct scale at which ecological phenomena should be studied, and management decisions require the interfacing of phen

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