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.
Latest additions
Submerged to floating plant dominance
The shift from submerged to floating plants in aquatic ecosystems such as ponds, canals, ditches or tropical lakes generates a loss of ecosystem services such as freshwater, fisheries and biodiversity. This regime shift is primarily driven by nutrient enrichment in the water body, as well as invasion by exotic species. Other drivers are turbidity, changes of the water depth and fluctuations in the water-level. The main mechanism that maintains floating plant dominance is the decrease of in situ ...
Shrub invasion: Arctic Tundra to Boreal forest
An important regime shift in the Arctic is the change from tundra to boreal forest. The main driver behind the shift is the increasingly warm climate due to high concentrations of carbon in atmosphere, allowing pioneer shrubs associated with the boreal forest regime to increase significantly. The actual shift to boreal forest with spruce and pine as the dominant species is unlikely to occur this century due to time lags involved with species migration. Shrub expansion in the Arctic tundra is the...
Forest to Savannas
Forest to savannas is a regime shift typical from tropical areas. Several feedback play an important role including albedo effects, evapotranspiration and clouds forming, fragmentation and fire-prone areas expansion, change in ocean circulation and self organizing vegetation patterns. However, not always these feedbacks are strong enough to produce alternative regimes; and in some areas shifts are expected to occur under stochastic events like ENSO droughts or unlikely events like Earth orbit ch...
Kelp Transitions
Kelp forests may undergo regime shifts to turf-forming algae and urchin barrens. This shift leads to loss of habitat and ecological complexity. Shifts to turf algae are related to nutrient input, while shifts to urchin barrens are related to trophic-level changes. The consequent loss of habitat complexity may affect commercially important fisheries. Managerial options include restoring biodiversity and installing wastewater treatment plants in coastal zones.
Bivalves Collapse
Bivalves form reefs that maintain aquatic ecosystems in a clear water regime by filtering out sediments. In addition, they maintain biodiversity by providing habitat to aquatic species. A low abundance regime can be induced by over-harvesting. Once bivalves are depleted, their filtering function is lost and the enrichment of nutrients make the system vulnerable to eutrophication or even hypoxia.
