Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research

Adapting ecosystems

Whether ecosystems can withstand the threats imposed by the combined effects of global climate change  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  questions  in  ecosystem  science. For instance: will  ecosystems recover from severe disturbances caused by storms or even hurricanes? Will habitats that are crucial to estuarine biodiversity persist? Can ecosystems crossing tipping points and collapsing to  degraded states be avoided? We study how biological-physical feedback interactions  shape the resilience of ecosystems of estuarine and delta systems.