Skip to main content

Search from vocabulary

Content language

Concept information

Preferred term

disequilibrium  

Definition

  • DISEQUILIBRIUM, AS USED in ecology, is a term used to describe systems that do not tend toward a stable, homeostatic balance. Whereas an ecological system in equilibrium tends toward stability both in terms of species composition and cycling of abiotic nutrients and energy, a system in disequilibrium exhibits no stable end point, has species composition in flux, and exchanges nutrients, energy, and organisms with surrounding systems. [Source: Encyclopedia of Environment and Society; Disequilibrium]

Broader concept

Belongs to group

URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/disequilibrium

Download this concept: