Nov 16 2009
Sustainability — Inertia/Constancy/Resilience
Hey Y’all! So I was reviewing Chapter 6 and came across a section I don’t remember discussing in class (pg.107). Our book discusses three different aspects of stability or sustainability (inertia, constancy, and resilience). I’m just having a little bit of difficulty distinquishing between the three, mainly the difference between inetia and resilience. From what I understand, inertia is kind of like the “before” — resist being disturbed — and resilience is kind of like the “after” — repairing damages after a disturbance. Does this sound right?! Thanks, guys! –Molly =)
Hey Molly– That seems to be how I understood it too. Inertia or persistence is a population’s ability to resist being disturbed (the armor to avoid damage). Constancy is the population’s ability to keep its numbers in check (the fight against damage). Resilience the ability to repair done damage (the “clean up” of damage). So, I think that your “before, during, and after” thinking is helpful when describing these aspects of sustainibility.
Sounds good. We would have gotten into this more if we had more time for succession and the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis. Don’t worry about it for tomorrow.