![]() ![]() Too many new animals in the ecosystem, altering seed levels, or dead flora that can’t decompose fast enough to provide nutrients to the new plants trying to grow. Even with a stable ecosystem, there are stressors. This would be the conservation or “K” phase of the cycle, where trees and plants die at a natural rate, and are replaced by others like them at a steady interval. This growth eventually reaches a fairly stable, resilient state, where the levels of trees and other plants even out at a sustainable point. Start in the “r” or growth phase of panarchy, where a variety of species grow in a forest over time. A good example is the growth of forests over time. The panarchy idea was developed in ecology, first as an adaptive cycle, so I will explain panarchy in that context. The theories of resilience and panarchy are applicable to many disciplines and some have argued that they also apply to change in human societies. While the cycle is perpetual, adaptation and resilience depend on a variety of circumstances. The system is a perpetual cycle that draws from adaptive resilience and places it into a larger context. In panarchy, a shift from the stable state to an additional state is the first step in a continual process of rejuvenation, creation, and growth. The adaptive cycle is an effective model for systems, the levels in a panarchy, and the dynamics of individual systems. The adaptive cycle (Holling 1986) temporal changes in a system proceed through phases of growth (r), conservation (k), release (Ω), and reorganization (α). Nothing lasts forever, and even when sweeping change involves entire societies or the climate, it may still all be part of a larger, adaptive system, known as panarchy (Gunderson and Holling 2002).įig. Many people believe that resilience is the end goal because it is supposed to keep a system intact in the face of change, but crossing the threshold and shifting to a different state is an essential part of the system. Nothing in nature can stay in a state of permanent stasis. Resilience is about absorbing small stresses without disrupting the overall stability of a system however as the Maya, the Romans, and modern day climate change all suggest, the resiliency threshold will be crossed at some point. The Course of Empire Destruction (1836), by Thomas Cole. If we look at large-scale, hierarchical societies in decline it seems at first that a loss of resilience might equal total failure-as the word collapse suggests-but there is more to it than meets the eye. The end of the Roman Empire plunged the entirety of Western Europe into the Dark Ages. The Romans also suffered a fall from glory after centuries of growth and adaptation. The resilient Mayan society failed to maintain the golden standard of a vast and prosperous civilization. If you approach this situation like many past scholars, it’s a total collapse of society. ![]() Did Mayan civilization collapse? Did it just go through a major change? Or did the Maya hit their resilience threshold which caused them to stop building elaborate cities, among other things? Whatever this process is defined as, we can say that the Maya moved away from those cities, broke up large trade routes, and ceased to function as a massive, unified network of trading partners.
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