CIFOR Vol 2 Criterion W

Criterion – W: Ecosystem resilience

Consultant's Initials:

Source:

CCFM

Identification No. in source:

2.2

Final Identification No. (as reported in final list):

Class:

Ecological/

biophysical

Recommendation (after field testing)

Box A:

Enter the selected criterion as stated in the source document in this space:

Ecosystem Resilience - Evolution has provided forest ecosystems with elaborate mechanisms for recovery from disturbances. This capacity for recovery may be described in terms of resilience (return time) and is a measure of the ability of ecosystems to maintain their integrity despite perturbations.

Box B: Attributes

Rated on a scale of 1-5, where 1=no/bad/unimportant and 5=yes/good/important

	original	revised		original	revised
	(a)	(j)		(a)	(j)
Precisely defined? (clear)	3		Will it produce replicable results? (reliable)	2

Diagnostically specific ? (valid)	3		Is it applicable for all landowners?	3

Sensitive?	3		Is it applicable to other areas/ecosystems? (robust)	4

Easy to detect, record and interpret?	2		How relevant is this criterion?	4

Useable?	2

Box C:

Justify your selection of the Criterion in Box A. Please ensure you discuss its relationship to theory:

Resilience reflects the persistence of ecosystems and their capacity to absorb changes and disturbances while maintaining productivity levels and relationships among populations. Ecosystems with greater regenerative capacity and a balanced distribution of forest types and age classes are considered to be more resilient and therefore more sustainable

Box D:

Provide bibliographic references (if any) which support your selection of this Criterion for evaluation:

N/A

Box E:

Please name (give the reference of) the Criterion that overlap (come closest) to the Criterion that has been selected for evaluation:

CIFOR: 2.1 2.3 2.4

CCFM: 1.1.1 1.1.2

Box F:

Please record your notes on evaluating the Criterion (Box A) here:

Resilience is a well established concept in ecology, but its exact meaning has been debated. There is no standard unit of measurement.

Box G: Geo-Political

Evaluate the geo-political scale on which the Criterion operates. Multiple-entries are possible but care should be taken to determine the primary thrust of the criterion.

Justify:	original	revised
	(a)	(j)
Global
North America	X
Intermountain	X
West
Study area	X
Tenure	X
Site	X

Box H: Function
Classify Criterion according to whether it refers to the structure of the system (biophysical, social or management), function of the system, describes its composition or describes perturbations to the system.

Justify:	original	revised
	(a)	(j)
Structure
Function	X
Composition
Perturbation

Box I: Linkages

Identify linkages between Criterion, to ensure that the same or similar information is not collected twice and to ascertain whether the necessary feedback loops exist between Criterion.

The Principle has information value for the following areas/principles:

Ecological /

Biophysical: X

Social: -

Economic: -

Forest Mngt: X

Yield & harvest: X

Does not fit: -

Box J:

Final version of Criterion, state only if different to definition in Box A:

N/A