Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Resilience discussed at May 25 workshop

Back to Leopold Letter Summer 2011

Farms need to be resilient as well as sustainable to continue producing food, fuel and fiber in an uncertain future marked by erratic weather due to climate change, rising energy costs and other unpredictable shocks in the system.

This advice comes from David Mortensen, professor of weed ecology at Pennsylvania State University, who spoke to more than 80 researchers and educators attending a May 25 workshop hosted by the Leopold Center. The participants learned about resilience and how it might be incorporated into Leopold Center-funded research and demonstrations.

“Resilience is the ability of a system to absorb disturbance and still have all the essential elements it needs to function,” Mortensen said. “We need to identify systems that are resilient and try to expand them.”

Resilience arises from diversity. The concept offers a new – and slightly different – twist to sustainability. Laura Jackson, a biologist from the University of Northern Iowa, said: “In sustainability we talk about things running out slowly over time. The resilience idea introduces a new concept that because our systems are adaptive and complex, there is a potential for catastrophe to happen that is not directly related to running out of a natural resource.”

Jackson addressed the social aspects of resilience during a panel discussion. Other panelists were ISU agronomist Matt Liebman, Rowley farmer Richard Sloan, and local foods coordinator Bahia Barry. Richard Leopold, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Assistant Regional Director, moderated the panel.

Past, present and future grantees of the Leopold Center shared their ideas and research in poster sessions and during afternoon roundtable discussions.

Back to Leopold Letter Summer 2011