Understanding Change in Benthic Marine Systems.

Real-world examples show three or more stable configurations may exist, and transient stages may persist for long periods necessitating their respective consideration. Characteristic Length Scales (CLS) is a useful metric that uniquely identifies a community "basin of attraction", enabling distinguishing phase shifts from long transients. Variabilities of CLS and timeseries data may likewise provide proactive management measures to mitigate phase shifts and loss of ecosystem services. Continued challenges remain distinguishing continuous from discontinuous phase shifts because their respective dynamics lack unique signatures.