The go-to data point used to indicate whether an institution is helping students reach success has tended to be its graduation rate. Post-graduation employment is another indicator but the definition of student success has evolved to include many more areas.
However, many examples exist of non-linear and sometimes abrupt changes in ecosystems. A change may be gradual until a particular pressure on the ecosystem reaches a threshold, at which point rapid shifts to a new state occur. Some non-linear changes can be very large and have substantial impacts on human well-being.
While a fire can cause the death of individual plants and animals, fire regimes actively stimulate the regeneration and renewal of the ecosystem. However, if fire regimes occur outside of the sequence to which the plants and animals have adapted, extinction of species can occur.