Newly discovered landscape traps produce regime shifts in wet forests

We describe the “landscape trap” concept, whereby entire landscapes

are shifted into, and then maintained (trapped) in, a highly

compromised structural and functional state as the result of multiple

temporal and spatial feedbacks between human and natural

disturbance regimes. The landscape trap concept builds on ideas

like stable alternative states and other relevant concepts, but it

substantively expands the conceptual thinking in a number of

unique ways. In this paper, we (i) review the literature to develop

the concept of landscape traps, including their general features;

(ii) provide a case study as an example of a landscape trap from

the mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forests of southeastern

Australia; (iii) suggest how landscape traps can be detected before

they are irrevocably established; and (iv) present evidence of the

generality of landscape traps in different ecosystems worldwide.