[go: up one dir, main page]
Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY

The elusive search for tipping points

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 4, pages 1449–1450 (2020)Cite this article

Subjects

New evidence from over 4,600 studies calls into question the universal application of critical threshold values, or tipping points, along gradients of environmental stress. Identifying never-to-exceed environmental targets may prove elusive for environmental policy and management.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Little evidence for universal tipping points.

References

  1. Gladwell, M. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (Little, Brown and Company, 2000).

  2. Barnosky, A. D. et al. Nature 486, 52–58 (2012).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Ehrlich, P. R. & Ehrlich, A. H. Proc. R. Soc. B 280, 20122845 (2013).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Rockström, J. et al. Nature 461, 472–475 (2009).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Dudney, J., Hobbs, R. J., Heilmayr, R., Battles, J. J. & Suding, K. N. Trends Ecol. Evol. 33, 863–873 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Hillebrand, H. et al. Nat. Ecol. Evol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1256-9 (2020).

  7. Hallett, L. M. et al. Ecology 95, 1693–1700 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Berdugo, M. et al. Science 367, 787–790 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Benedetti-Cecchi, L., Tamburello, L., Maggi, E. & Bulleri, F. Curr. Biol. 25, 1867–1872 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Millar, C. I. & Stephenson, N. L. Science 349, 823–826 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Monger, C. et al. Front. Ecol. Environ. 13, 13–19 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Turner, M. G. et al. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 375, 20190105 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Joan Dudney

  2. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    Katharine N. Suding

Authors
  1. Joan Dudney
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Katharine N. Suding
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katharine N. Suding.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dudney, J., Suding, K.N. The elusive search for tipping points. Nat Ecol Evol 4, 1449–1450 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1273-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1273-8

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing Anthropocene

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Anthropocene newsletter — what matters in anthropocene research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Anthropocene