Final answer:
Ecosystem responses to change are non-predictable and can result in substantial extinction and new ecosystem configurations. Ecosystem resilience indicates a capacity to return to equilibrium after disturbances; predictive models for these responses are complex due to multiple dynamic factors.
Step-by-step explanation:
The data indicates that ecosystems are characterized by non-predictable, disparate species responses to ecosystem change. Unlike the computer models that suggest climate change might be linear and gradual, ecosystems respond in a more complex, often abrupt manner with species moving at their own rates and directions, potentially leading to substantial extinction. This disassembly of current ecosystems and assembly into new configurations, along with the existence of multiple equilibrium states, reveals that both the resilience of ecosystems and the predictive models of their response to changes are complex and challenging to grasp.
If an ecosystem is considered to be highly resilient, it implies that the ecosystem has an innate capacity to recover and return to an equilibrium state after disturbances, although this equilibrium might be different from the initial state. Consequently, one cannot assume that organism reproductive strategies are easily predictable in changed habitats, as these strategies are influenced by a variety of biotic and abiotic factors that are in constant flux.