Toward a new perspective on evaluating climate change resilience of agroecosystems

Abstract:

Anthropogenic climate change is a major challenge for agriculture globally, so agroecosystems more resilient to changing environmental conditions are necessary to continue sufficient production. However, high uncertainty surrounding the definition and evaluation of ecological resilience in agroecosystems inhibits effective development and improvement of climate-resilient agriculture. Here, we propose a framework for improving evaluations of agroecosystem resilience through a novel approach to estimating agroecosystem stability domains by focusing on profitability. First, we provide a brief review of relevant agroecosystem resilience literature to contextualize our contribution. Then, we argue for evaluation of profitability across a range of conditions as a key integrative metric for estimating bounds of agroecosystem stability domains. Finally, we identify data gaps and critical next steps to further develop this framework into an effective evaluative tool. Our overarching goal is to provide a new perspective on how we understand agroecosystem resilience in the face of climate change.