Abstract:

An ecological threshold refers to a point or zone in the relationship between two or more ecological variables at which relatively abrupt change occurs from one ecological condition to another in an ecosystem. The impetus for this change comes from a small additional change in one or more key factors. Ecological thresholds are ubiquitous in natural ecosystems. Research on ecological thresholds has important theoretical and practical meanings for natural resources conservation and sustainable ecosystem management. Enhancing the research of the ecological threshold has great guiding effects on maintaining the stability of ecosystems, preventing and reducing the disasters, protecting the biodiversity, establishing the economic mode of sustainable development, and studying and preventing the global warming. Because of the complexity of the interaction of ecological factors, there is still great uncertainty about the nature of ecological thresholds and how they are related in different spatial scales.