Principles for Guiding Future Research on Resilience and Tipping Points

This paper presents an integrated systems approach to resilience and tipping points by bridging heuristic models with mathematical frameworks from dynamical systems theory. Using the ball-and-cup model alongside the S-shaped bifurcation curve, the authors demonstrate how concepts such as stability, adaptive capacity, and vulnerability can be formally defined and applied to complex ecological, climate, and socio-ecological systems. They propose seven guiding research questions to advance both theoretical development and practical application, offering researchers and practitioners tools to better understand, anticipate, and manage system transitions in the face of increasing global stress.