Ecological Feedback Loops

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In this module we will be continuing on with our discussion on feedback loops, a topic of central interest within systems ecology and systems theory in general. We firstly give a brief outline to the two different types talking about negative feedback as a stabilizing mechanism, while positive feedback can have a destabilizing effect leading to both rapidly compounding beneficial outcomes, called virtuous cycles, or compounded detrimental outcomes called vicious cycles. We then go on to talk about some of the basics to nonlinear dynamics, introducing the idea of a state space and attractors within that space, with these attractors forming some stable equilibrium to the system's state. We look at the idea of a stability landscape that can have multiple stable basins of attraction within it and the idea of a repeller that forms an unstable space governed by positive feedback between these attractors. Finally we will talk about how the model of feedback loops and stability landscapes can be used as a basic model for analysing the resilience of an ecosystem.

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