What Are the Dynamics Before the Collapse of a Population?

Theory from nonlinear dynamics argues that there are characteristic behaviors of complex systems before "tipping points". We have made a significant effort in exploring these signatures of critical slowing down in a number of different experimental systems. We first demonstrated that changes in the fluctuations of a population can be used to anticipate an impending collapse (Dai et al, Science (2012)). Next we showed that there are spatial patterns that emerge before collapse (Dai et al, Nature (2013)). Since then we have extended these ideas to cell decision-making, honey bee colonies, and intertidal communities at field sites on islands in Italy.