Managing ecosystems under climate change using nature's hidden design

Drawing on examples from across the Great Lakes Basin, a new synthesis paper is examining the ecological structures and processes that help ecosystems withstand disturbances while continuing to provide the benefits that people and wildlife depend on. It highlights the importance of what ecologists call "portfolio effects": the stabilizing influence that arises when ecosystems contain a diversity of species, habitats, and ecological interactions operating across multiple levels of ecological organization. Much like a diversified financial portfolio reduces risk, ecological diversity can buffer ecosystems against environmental change and help maintain the production of natural resources over time.

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