The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
In ecology, resistance is the ability of a population or community to avoid displacement from some state of development as a result of an environmental stress. Populations or communities with inherently high resistance are relatively stable when challenged by such conditions. If the stress is greater than the population threshold, though, change must occur.
In general, species that are larger in size, relatively competitive, longer-lived, with longer generation times and high investment in offspring are relatively resistant to intensified stresses. When these species or their communities are overcome by environmental change, however, they have little resilience and tend to recover slowly.
In contrast, species that are smaller in size, short-lived, highly fecund, and with shorter generation times have little ability to resist the effects of perturbation. However, these species and their communities are resilient, and have the ability to quickly recover from disturbance. This assumes, of course, that the environmental change has not been too excessive, and that the habitat still remains suitable for their regeneration and growth.