Ecosystem resilience
An ecosystem is a group of living things (animals, plants and fungi, including people) that live in and interact with each other in an environment.
Ecosystems provide people with benefits such as pollination, flood control, food and water. These are called ecosystem services.
Ecosystem resilience is the ability of an ecosystem to deal with pressures (like climate change) and still be able to provide ecosystem services and benefits (like pollination) now and in, the future.
An ecosystem is resilient if it:
- is Diverse (has lots of different habitats and species);
- has a large Extent (covers large areas rather than small ones);
- is in good Condition (not damaged by things like litter or invasive species);
- is well Connected (different places are linked up, for example by hedgerows); and
- is Adaptable (can deal with changes such as global warming).
Swansea Ecosystem Resilience Report
The Swansea Ecosystem Resilience report (PDF) [2MB], produced by the South East Wales Biodiversity Records Centre (SEWBReC) (opens new window) in 2022, maps ecosystem resilience across the county of Swansea. Ecosystem resilience mapping is still quite new, but the results from the Swansea report are useful and show areas of lower resilience (pale shades) and higher resilience (darker shades) throughout the county.
The Swansea ecosystem resilience report shows that most of Swansea is of lower resilience. The lowest ecosystem resilience occurs around the city centre. The areas of highest ecosystem resilience tend to be where there are existing protected sites (like Clyne Valley Country Park, or Bishop's Wood Local Nature Reserve).
It is important that ecosystem resilience is improved across the county of Swansea, and that areas of high resilience are protected connected to provide essential benefits to the people of Swansea and of course to biodiversity.