ABSTRACT
Ecology and palaeoecology have undergone something of a convergence in recent decades in a renewed emphasis on historical rather than cyclic change. The concept of the balance of nature has been found severely wanting. Approaches referred to as ‘non-equilibrium ecology’ draw on empirical evidence of change, instability and dynamism in ecosystems, and challenge Clementsian ideas of succession, stasis and equilibrium. Palaeoecological evidence of long-term vegetation change, species-rather than community-level response and variable refugial strategies supports the same conclusions from different directions. In both fields, disturbance is now understood as integral to ecosystems rather than an external process. Change is the norm. In management terms, that does not mean that ‘anything goes’, as we are now in a better position to understand the frequency, magnitude and degree of change from different causes. This work raises both philosophical and practical management challenges to concepts of naturalness, pristine baselines and human impacts. It also provides exciting practical opportunities for the past to inform the present and future, since the past influences contemporary ecosystems at a range of timescales. These opportunities are more likely to be at the local and regional than the ‘big picture’ scale.
