A team of British scientists analyzed and simulated the data of 4 land, 25 oceans and 13 freshwater ecosystems and found that once the collapse of a large fragile ecosystem is triggered, the process may only take decades!

In ecology, ecosystem is a unified whole composed of living things and environment in a certain space of nature. In this unified whole, living things and environment interact and restrict each other, and are in a relatively stable dynamic equilibrium state in a certain period of time. System transformation refers to the large-scale, long-lasting and often unexpected changes in ecosystem stability, which may be driven by the feedback cycle after reaching the "critical point".

The researchers believe that the frequency of system transformation will increase under the influence of climate change and environmental degradation; however, the relationship between the speed and scale of ecosystem collapse has not been fully recognized. This information may help to find the right time to take adaptive management strategies to reduce ecological damage.

This time, researcher John dilling of the University of Southampton and his colleagues conducted an unprecedented detailed analysis of the data in the report on the transformation of four land, 25 oceans and 13 freshwater ecosystems. They found that larger ecosystems experience slower system transformation than smaller ecosystems, but as the scale of ecosystems increases, the extra time required for collapse will be reduced, leading to their relatively rapid collapse.

Using statistical relationships supported by computer models, the team assessed that once triggered, Amazon scale ecosystems (about 5.5 million square kilometers) could collapse in about 49 years, while Caribbean reef scale systems (about 20000 square kilometers) could collapse in just 15 years.

The researchers concluded that humans need to be prepared to transform ecosystems faster than previously thought.

Editor in chief circle

Geological science tells us that in the earth's more than 4 billion years of history, the period of biological prosperity like today is not very long. A stable biosphere is not so much a normal as an extraordinary spectacle. The global volcanic eruption or climate change of unknown causes destroyed most lives in a short time, and such extinction has occurred several times. We should cherish the current lush, do not take it for granted, the way to keep right is to think of danger in safety.

Source: Science and Technology Daily