Diversity of a system affects resilience

The degree of variation in a system is directly correlated to its ability to absorb shocks to the system. Increased diversity provides increased flexibility. Increased efficiency leads to a reduction in diversity. Thus, increased efficiency results in decreased diversity which decreases flexibility and, thus, resistance to shocks.

The more variations available to respond to a shock, the greater the ability to absorb the shock. Diversity—variety in the number of species, people, and institutions that exist in a social-ecological system—relates to flexibility and keeping your options open. A lack of diversity limits options and reduces your capacity to respond to disturbances. Increasing efficiency (optimization) inevitably leads to a reduction in diversity.[1]


#systems #resilience

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  1. Ibid. ↩︎