The Regime Shifts DataBase provides examples of different types of regime shifts that have been documented in social-ecological systems. The database focuses specifically on regime shifts that have large impacts on ecosystem services, and therefore on human well-being.
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Black Sea: Gelatinous Plankton Dominance
The Black Sea is a marine and coastal system previously dominated by top predators. Overfishing and increased nutrient input during the last 50 years as well as climate change triggered a shift of the system into a gelatinous plankton dominated regime in the late 80's, after which a population outburst of the invasive jellyfish Mnemiopsis leidyi occurred. The main feedback maintaining the regime is M. leidyi feeding on pelagic larvae and being better competitor for zooplankton than the native je...
Sprawling vs Compact City
Urban sprawl, i.e. expansion of cities into low density, single use development, is a growing problem across the world leading to loss of ecosystem services, air pollution, class segregation and increased energy use. It is mainly driven by population growth, housing preferences, demand for social security and aesthetic preferences. The key maintainers of sprawl are road infrastructure designed with automobile use in mind and government's intentional and unintentional support for city expansion. ...
Lake Victoria
This case study examines the regime shift caused by the "Nile perch boom" in Lake Victoria, Eastern Africa. The Nile perch, an introduced species, remained a minor component of the lake's cichlid-dominated fauna for more than two decades after its introduction. This regime was maintained by feedbacks between the cichlids and phytoplankton, preventing the lake from oxygen depletion, as well as feedbacks between the cichlids and Nile perch juveniles, controlling the Nile perch population. Human po...
North Pacific Ocean
A climatic regime shift took place in the North Pacific Ocean during the winter 1976-77. It caused significant impacts on the physical and biological conditions leading to severe distribution and abundance changes of plankton and fish species. Physical changes include intensification of the wintertime Aleutian Low pressure system, change in Pacific-North America (PNA) teleconnection pattern, and regional cooling or warming. The 1977 climate shift is associated with an abrupt transition from a ne...
River Channel Position
In freshwater lake and river systems, a river channel position regime shift occurs when the main channel of a river abruptly changes its course to a new river channel. Meandering and braided rivers are especially vulnerable to such shifts. The actual shift of the channel usually follows a large flood event, but other factors make the system susceptible to the shift. Most commonly, sediment buildup blocks the riverflow due to changes in current and riverbed gradient. In other cases, a cutoff occu...
