Stability, Concept of

Stability may be defined broadly as the tendency of a system to return to its former state after some disturbance. In the natural world, the term can be applied to the capacity of an ecosystem to resist environmental disturbances. Given the fact that human activity now produces such disturbances on a vast global scale, the ability of ecosystems to remain stable has become an issue of great significance. Current investigators study the interrelationship of stability and biodiversity; i.e., the effect that the biodiversity of an ecosystem has on its stability, and the corresponding role of stability in maintaining the biodiversity of the system.