The Asymmetric Response Concept explains ecological consequences of multiple stressor exposure and release

Matthijs Vos¹, Daniel Hering², Mark O Gessner³, Florian Leese⁴, Ralf B Schäfer⁵, Ralph Tollrian⁶, Jens Boenigk⁷, Peter Haase⁸, Rainer Meckenstock⁹, Daria Baikova¹⁰, Helena Bayat⁵, Arne Beermann¹¹, Daniela Beisser⁷, Bánk Beszteri¹², Sebastian Birk¹³, Lisa Boden¹⁴, Verena Brauer⁹, Mario Brauns¹⁵, Dominik Buchner¹¹, Andrea Burfeid-Castellanos¹⁶, Gwendoline David¹⁷, Aman Deep¹⁴, Annemie Doliwa¹⁸, Micah Dunthorn¹⁹, Julian Enß¹⁸, Camilo Escobar-Sierra²⁰, Christian K Feld¹³, Nicola Fohrer²¹, Daniel Grabner¹³, Una Hadziomerovic¹⁰, Sonja C Jähnig²², Maik Jochmann²³, Shaista Khaliq²⁴, Jens Kiesel²¹, Annabel Kuppels¹, Kathrin P Lampert²⁰, T T Yen Le¹⁸, Armin W Lorenz¹⁸, Graciela Medina Madariaga²², Benjamin Meyer²⁵, Jelena H Pantel²⁶, Iris Madge Pimentel¹¹, Ntambwe Serge Mayombo¹⁶, Hong Hanh Nguyen²⁷, Kristin Peters²¹, Svenja M Pfeifer¹⁸, Sebastian Prati¹⁸, Alexander J Probst²⁵, Dominik Reiner¹⁸, Peter Rolauffs¹⁸, Alexandra Schlenker¹⁵, Torsten C Schmidt²³, Manan Shah²⁸, Guido Sieber¹⁴, Tom Lennard Stach²⁵, Ann-Kathrin Tielke¹, Anna-Maria Vermiert⁶, Martina Weiss⁴, Markus Weitere¹⁵, Bernd Sures¹³

Affiliations

¹ Ruhr University Bochum, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, Theoretical and Applied Biodiversity Research, Bochum, Germany.
² Aquatic Ecology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Essen, Germany. Electronic address: daniel.hering@uni-due.de.
³ Department of Plankton and Microbial Ecology, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Stechlin, Germany; Department of Ecology, Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin), Berlin, Germany.
⁴ Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Essen, Germany; Aquatic Ecosystem Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
⁵ Institute for Environmental Sciences, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Landau, Germany.
⁶ Department of Animal Ecology, Ruhr University Bochum, Evolution and Biodiversity, Germany.
⁷ Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Essen, Germany; Biodiversity, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
⁸ Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Essen, Germany; Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Gelnhausen, Germany; Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
⁹ Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Essen, Germany; Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
¹⁰ Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
¹¹ Aquatic Ecosystem Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
¹² Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Essen, Germany; Phycology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
¹³ Aquatic Ecology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Essen, Germany.
¹⁴ Biodiversity, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
¹⁵ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department River Ecology, Magdeburg, Germany.
¹⁶ Phycology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
¹⁷ Department of Plankton and Microbial Ecology, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Stechlin, Germany.
¹⁸ Aquatic Ecology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
¹⁹ Eukaryotic Microbiology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
²⁰ University of Cologne, Institute of Zoology, Cologne, Germany.
²¹ Department of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Institute of Natural Resource Conservation, CAU Kiel, Germany.
²² Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
²³ Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Essen, Germany; Instrumental Analytical Chemistry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
²⁴ Instrumental Analytical Chemistry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
²⁵ Aquatic Microbial Ecology, University of Duisburg-, Essen, Germany.
²⁶ Ecological Modelling, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
²⁷ Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Gelnhausen, Germany; Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
²⁸ Biodiversity, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; Aquatic Microbial Ecology, University of Duisburg-, Essen, Germany.

PMID: 36781140
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162196

The Asymmetric Response Concept explains ecological consequences of multiple stressor exposure and release

Matthijs Vos et al. Sci Total Environ. 2023.

. 2023 May 10:872:162196.

doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162196. Epub 2023 Feb 11.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Ruhr University Bochum, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, Theoretical and Applied Biodiversity Research, Bochum, Germany.
² Aquatic Ecology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Essen, Germany. Electronic address: daniel.hering@uni-due.de.
³ Department of Plankton and Microbial Ecology, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Stechlin, Germany; Department of Ecology, Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin), Berlin, Germany.
⁴ Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Essen, Germany; Aquatic Ecosystem Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
⁵ Institute for Environmental Sciences, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Landau, Germany.
⁶ Department of Animal Ecology, Ruhr University Bochum, Evolution and Biodiversity, Germany.
⁷ Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Essen, Germany; Biodiversity, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
⁸ Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Essen, Germany; Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Gelnhausen, Germany; Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
⁹ Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Essen, Germany; Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
¹⁰ Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
¹¹ Aquatic Ecosystem Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
¹² Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Essen, Germany; Phycology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
¹³ Aquatic Ecology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Essen, Germany.
¹⁴ Biodiversity, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
¹⁵ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department River Ecology, Magdeburg, Germany.
¹⁶ Phycology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
¹⁷ Department of Plankton and Microbial Ecology, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Stechlin, Germany.
¹⁸ Aquatic Ecology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
¹⁹ Eukaryotic Microbiology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
²⁰ University of Cologne, Institute of Zoology, Cologne, Germany.
²¹ Department of Hydrology and Water Resources Management, Institute of Natural Resource Conservation, CAU Kiel, Germany.
²² Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
²³ Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), Essen, Germany; Instrumental Analytical Chemistry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
²⁴ Instrumental Analytical Chemistry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
²⁵ Aquatic Microbial Ecology, University of Duisburg-, Essen, Germany.
²⁶ Ecological Modelling, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
²⁷ Department of River Ecology and Conservation, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Gelnhausen, Germany; Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
²⁸ Biodiversity, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; Aquatic Microbial Ecology, University of Duisburg-, Essen, Germany.

PMID: 36781140
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162196

Abstract

Our capacity to predict trajectories of ecosystem degradation and recovery is limited, especially when impairments are caused by multiple stressors. Recovery may be fast or slow and either complete or partial, sometimes result in novel ecosystem states or even fail completely. Here, we introduce the Asymmetric Response Concept (ARC) that provides a basis for exploring and predicting the pace and magnitude of ecological responses to, and release from, multiple stressors. The ARC holds that three key mechanisms govern population, community and ecosystem trajectories. Stress tolerance is the main mechanism determining responses to increasing stressor intensity, whereas dispersal and biotic interactions predominantly govern responses to the release from stressors. The shifting importance of these mechanisms creates asymmetries between the ecological trajectories that follow increasing and decreasing stressor intensities. This recognition helps to understand multiple stressor impacts and to predict which measures will restore communities that are resistant to restoration.

Keywords: Biotic interactions; Degradation; Dispersal; Multiple stressors; Recovery; Restoration; Tolerance.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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The Asymmetric Response Concept explains ecological consequences of multiple stressor exposure and release

Affiliations

The Asymmetric Response Concept explains ecological consequences of multiple stressor exposure and release

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources