Resilience in the Anthropocene: Which, where, and how do species bounce back from environmental change
Abstract: Why do some species recover quickly from disturbance while others collapse? Demographic resilience—the ability of a population to withstand and recover from perturbation—offers a powerful lens to understand biological responses to environmental change. In this talk, I present a comparative framework for assessing resilience across the Tree of Life, grounded in demographic theory and data from hundreds of species, including fish, amphibians, and mammals. I show how life history strategies, including reproductive timing, lifespan, and offspring investment, predict not only long-term persistence but also short-term population recovery. Using examples from aquatic and terrestrial systems, I explore how species’ resilience is shaped by evolutionary trade-offs and environmental stochasticity. Special attention is given to fishes, whose diversity in growth and reproductive schedules makes them ideal for testing resilience theory. I conclude with implications for ecosystem management and forecasting species responses under global change.
Rob Salguero-Gómez, Associate Professor in Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Oxford
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