Table 4.
Characteristics that describe the stability and adaptability of the ruminal microbial community.
| Characteristic | Definitiona | Likely status in the rumen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| nertia | Resistance to change | High, based on dosing studies | |
| Resilience | Ability to restore its structure following acute or chronic disturbance | High, based on exchange studies | |
| Components of resilience: | |||
| Elasticity | Rapidity of restoration of a stable state following disturbance | Relatively high, based on exchange studies | |
| Amplitude | Zone from which the system will return to a stable state | Very high, based on exchange studies | |
| Hysteresis | Degree to which path of restoration is an exact reversal of path of degradation | Unknown | |
| Malleability | Degree to which stable state established after disturbance differs from the original steady state | Low |
aVerbatim definitions of Westman (1978).