Fisichelli, N., Schuurman, G., Hoffman, C. 2015. Is ‘Resilience’ Maladaptive? Towards an Accurate Lexicon for Climate Change Adaptation. Environmental Management:1-6.

This new study from the Natural Resource Stewardship and Science division of the U.S. National Park Service discusses the problems with the current definition of 'resilience' within the field of conservation biology. The term resilience has thus far been broadly and ambiguously defined. The term can be used to denote resisting and absorbing change, while also used to mean reorganizing and transforming in response to climate change. Meanwhile, many stakeholders are unaware of this broad use of the word, and continue to believe resilience signifies returning to an original state before a disturbance. In this article, the authors want to define clear terminology that distinguishes adaptation strategies that seek to resist change from those that seek to direct change, both of which are currently synonymous with the broadly defined term 'resilience'. The authors believe that the term must be more narrowly defined in order for joint-management efforts to succeed, and joint-management efforts are important because they typically produce the most successful adaptation plans.