Carpenter et al. 2001. From Metaphor to Measurement: Resilience of What to What? Ecosystems 4: 765–781
The term 'resilience' is used in a variety of ways in the relevant literature, ranging from abstract and general characteristics of sustainable systems to a specific characteristic that can be modeled and measured. Carpenter et al. argue that measurement of resilience requires specification of both the property of interest and the disturbance to be withstood. Avoiding and coping with resilience loss in ecosystems requires social systems that maintain adaptive capacity via institutions that are able to experiment and innovate.
Carpenter et al 2001 Metaphor to Measurement.pdf — PDF document, 361Kb