Related papers: Tipping points in complex ecological systems

At low temperature a thermodynamic system undergoes a phase transition when a physical parameter passes through a singularity point of the free energy, corresponding to formation of a new order. At high temperature the thermal fluctuations…

Turing's theory of pattern formation has been used to describe the formation of self-organised periodic patterns in many biological, chemical and physical systems. However, the use of such models is hindered by our inability to predict, in…

We propose a definition of phase transitions in finite systems based on topology anomalies of the event distribution in the space of observations. This generalizes all the definitions based on the curvature anomalies of thermodynamical…

The realization that complex systems such as ecological communities can collapse or shift regimes suddenly and without rapid external forcing poses a serious challenge to our understanding and management of the natural world. The potential…

Dansgaard-Oeschger events are a prominent mode of variability in the records of the last glacial cycle. Various prototype models have been proposed to explain these rapid climate fluctuations, and no agreement has emerged on which may be…

The relation between thermodynamic phase transitions in classical systems and topology changes in their state space is discussed for systems in which equivalence of statistical ensembles does not hold. As an example, the spherical model…

Nonlinear dynamical systems exposed to changing forcing can exhibit catastrophic transitions between alternative and often markedly different states. The phenomenon of critical slowing down (CSD) can be used to anticipate such transitions…

The criteria determining the sign of entropy change in the open system are formulated. The concepts of entrostat, degree of openness, critical level of ordering are entered. The opportunity of occurrence of entropy oscillations in a…

It is often claimed that the fundamental laws of physics are deterministic and time-symmetric and that therefore our experience of the passage of time is an illusion. This paper will critically discuss these claims and show that they are…

Systems of systems differ from traditional systems in that they are open at the top, open at the bottom, and continually (but slowly) evolving. "Open at the top" means that there is no pre-defined top level application. New applications may…

For classical Hamiltonian systems, the adiabatic condition may fail at some critical points. However, the breakdown of the adiabatic condition does not always make the adiabatic evolution be destroyed. In this paper, we suggest a…

The species-area relationship is one of the central generalizations in ecology however its origin has remained a puzzle. Since ecosystems are understood as energy transduction systems, the regularities in species richness are considered to…

Entropy is a very useful concept from physics that tries to explain how a system behaves from a point of view of the thermodynamics. However, there are two ways to explain entropy, and it depends on if we are studying a microsystem or a…

Anticipating a tipping point, a transition from one stable steady state to another, is a problem of broad relevance due to the ubiquity of the phenomenon in diverse fields. The steady-state nature of the dynamics about a tipping point makes…

Change-point detection methods are proposed for the case of temporary failures, or transient changes, when an unexpected disorder is ultimately followed by a readjustment and return to the initial state. A base distribution of the…

The identification and classification of phases in small systems, e.g. nuclei, social and financial networks, clusters, and biological systems, where the traditional definitions of phase transitions are not applicable, is important to…

The infrastructure upon which the functioning of society depends is composed of complex ecosystems of systems. Consequently, we must reason about the properties of such ecosystems, which requires that we construct models of them. There are…

Noise plays a fundamental role in a wide variety of physical and biological dynamical systems. It can arise from an external forcing or due to random dynamics internal to the system. It is well established that even weak noise can result in…

In the $\phi $-mapping theory, the topological current constructed by the order parameters can possess different inner structure. The difference in topology must correspond to the difference in physical structure. The transition between…

The path toward the emergence of life in our biosphere involved several key events allowing for the persistence, reproduction and evolution of molecular systems. All these processes took place in a given environmental context and required…