A point or level at which new properties emerge in an ecological, economic, or
other system, invalidating predictions based on mathematical relationships that
apply at lower levels.
For example, species diversity of a landscape may decline steadily with
increasing habitat degradation to a certain point, then fall sharply after a
critical threshold of degradation is reached.
Human behavior, especially at group levels, sometimes exhibits threshold
effects. Thresholds at which irreversible changes occur are especially of
concern to decision-makers.
