Applying the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) Framework to Manage Profound Ecosystem Change

In addressing profound ecosystem change—like that occurring because of climate change, invasive species, and other pressures—natural resource managers can be deliberate and strategic in how they manage ecosystems by resisting, accepting, or directing ecosystem change. This is according to a recently published paper in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, co-authored by SW CASC USGS Director Stephen Jackson and many others across the CASC network. The authors argue that in this new frontier where managers face a lack of precedents and high uncertainty, it may be more practical and appropriate under certain circumstances to move beyond resisting ecosystem change (which has been the traditional focus), to accepting inevitable change or even directing change along a more desirable pathway (the RAD framework). Read more here.