Ecological tipping points: a major challenge for experimental sciences

Abstract : Tipping point situations occur when the forces that create stability are overcome by the forces that create instability, and the ship, vehicle, system, or global ecosystem tips into disequilibrium. The five great biotic extinctions provide persuasive evidence that global tipping points have been reached in the past. The sixth biotic extinction now underway is unique because of the dominant effects of anthropogenic activities. The quest for sustainable use of the planet requires that reaching tipping points be eliminated or, at the very least, minimized. The best way to determine the stress needed to induce a tipping point is to cross a major ecological threshold. The experimental sciences can help estimate the nature and location of thresholds, but ethical behavior and reducing unsustainable practices is the best way to achieve sustainability by taking precautionary measure to reduce the probability of reaching a tipping point