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Hidayat M, Djufri D, Basri H, Ismail N, Idroes R, Ikhwali MF. Influence of vegetation type on infiltration rate and capacity at Ie jue geothermal manifestation, Mount Seulawah Agam, Indonesia. Heliyon 2024; 10:e25783. [PMID: 38390114 PMCID: PMC10881885 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Ie Jue is one of the geothermal manifestation of hot water and fumaroles in the northern zone of Mount Seulawah Agam. Because hot water in the Ie Jue manifestation is derived from meteoric water, the presence of Ie Jue hot springs is determined by rain intensity and surface infiltration rates in the vicinity of the manifestation. The purpose of this research is to determine the rate of precipitation infiltration and its link to the type of flora that grows around the manifestation. Ie Jue. The 100 m line transect approach was used to determine sampling locations. Transects were placed in stratified sampling based on the four cardinal directions from the manifestation's center, namely east, south, west, and north. In each transect, three sampling stations were placed at intervals of 0 m, 50 m, and 100 m from the manifestation's midpoint. In each transect, three sampling stations were placed at intervals of 0 m, 50 m, and 100 m from the manifestation's midpoint. At each sampling point, the vegetation type was identified, and soil temperature, moisture, pH, texture, density and organic C were measured. A single ring infiltrometer was used to quantify infiltration rate at each sampling location, and the Horton equation was used to compute infiltration capacity. The results showed that the type of tree vegetation found in the south had the maximum infiltration rate of 54 cm/h - 28.8 cm/h with a constant interval of 40 min, followed by an infiltration rate of 44.4 cm/h - 8.4 cm/h for 45 min in the north with pole vegetation type. In comparison to other regions, the south and north have exceptionally quick infiltration criteria (36.87 cm/h and 29.88 cm/h, respectively). When compared to poles, shrubs, and herbs, tree-type vegetation had the highest infiltration rate. The results showed that vegetation type, soil moisture, bulk density, and soil organic C are the most important elements influencing infiltration in the Ie jue hot spring area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muslich Hidayat
- Graduate School of Mathematics and Applied Science, Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia
- Department of Biology Education, Faculty of Education and Teacher Training, Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry, Banda Aceh, Indonesia
| | - Djufri Djufri
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia
| | - Hairul Basri
- Departement of Geophysics, Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia
| | - Nazli Ismail
- Soil Science Department, Agriculture Faculty, Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia
| | - Rinaldi Idroes
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia
| | - M Faisi Ikhwali
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry, Banda Aceh, Indonesia
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Gomes AS, Callaway RM, Rabelo BS, Petry GL, Barbosa EM, Borghetti F. Competition for water and rapid exclusion of an island endemic by a pantropical species in a tropical climate. Oecologia 2023; 201:901-914. [PMID: 36973609 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-023-05352-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/02/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023]
Abstract
Water availability has major effects on community structure and dynamics globally, yet our understanding of competition for water in the tropics is limited. On the tropical Trindade Island, we explored competition for water in the context of the rapid exclusion of an endemic sedge, Cyperus atlanticus (Cyperaceae), by a pantropical, N-fixing shrub, Guilandina bonduc (Fabaceae). Guilandina patches were generally surrounded by rings of bare soil, and dead Cyperus halos commonly surrounded these bare zones. With geo-referenced measurements, we showed that Guilandina patches and bare soil zones rapidly expanded and replaced adjacent Cyperus populations. We found that soil water potentials were much lower in bare soils than soils under Guilandina or Cyperus, and that leaf water potentials of Cyperus plants were lower when co-occurring with Guilandina than when alone. When Guilandina was removed experimentally, Cyperus populations expanded and largely covered the bare soil zones. Our results indicate that when Guilandina establishes, its root systems expand beyond its canopies and these roots pull water from soils beneath Cyperus and kill it, creating bare zone halos, and then Guilandina expands and repeats the process. This scenario indicates rapid competitive exclusion and displacement of an endemic by a common pantropical species, at least in part through competition for water.
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Bera BK, Tzuk O, Bennett JJR, Meron E. Linking spatial self-organization to community assembly and biodiversity. eLife 2021; 10:e73819. [PMID: 34570698 PMCID: PMC8497052 DOI: 10.7554/elife.73819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2021] [Accepted: 09/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Temporal shifts to drier climates impose environmental stresses on plant communities that may result in community reassembly and threatened ecosystem services, but also may trigger self-organization in spatial patterns of biota and resources, which act to relax these stresses. The complex relationships between these counteracting processes - community reassembly and spatial self-organization - have hardly been studied. Using a spatio-temporal model of dryland plant communities and a trait-based approach, we study the response of such communities to increasing water-deficit stress. We first show that spatial patterning acts to reverse shifts from fast-growing species to stress-tolerant species, as well as to reverse functional-diversity loss. We then show that spatial self-organization buffers the impact of further stress on community structure. Finally, we identify multistability ranges of uniform and patterned community states and use them to propose forms of non-uniform ecosystem management that integrate the need for provisioning ecosystem services with the need to preserve community structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bidesh K Bera
- Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics, BIDR, Ben-Gurion University of the NegevSede Boqer CampusIsrael
| | - Omer Tzuk
- Physics Department, Ben-Gurion University of the NegevBeer ShevaIsrael
| | - Jamie JR Bennett
- Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics, BIDR, Ben-Gurion University of the NegevSede Boqer CampusIsrael
| | - Ehud Meron
- Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics, BIDR, Ben-Gurion University of the NegevSede Boqer CampusIsrael
- Physics Department, Ben-Gurion University of the NegevBeer ShevaIsrael
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4
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Guill C, Hülsemann J, Klauschies T. Self-organised pattern formation increases local diversity in metacommunities. Ecol Lett 2021; 24:2624-2634. [PMID: 34558161 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2020] [Revised: 05/12/2021] [Accepted: 07/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Self-organised formation of spatial patterns is known from a variety of different ecosystems, yet little is known about how these patterns affect the diversity of communities. Here, we use a food chain model in which autotroph diversity is described by a continuous distribution of a trait that affects both growth and defence against heterotrophs. On isolated patches, diversity is always lost over time due to stabilising selection, and the local communities settle on one of two alternative stable community states that are characterised by a dominance of either defended or undefended species. In a metacommunity context, dispersal can destabilise these states and complex spatio-temporal patterns in the species' abundances emerge. The resulting biomass-trait feedback increases local diversity by an order of magnitude compared to scenarios without self-organised pattern formation, thereby maintaining the ability of communities to adapt to potential future changes in biotic or abiotic environmental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Guill
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Janne Hülsemann
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Toni Klauschies
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
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5
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Belowground feedbacks as drivers of spatial self-organization and community assembly. Phys Life Rev 2021; 38:1-24. [PMID: 34334324 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2021.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2021] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Vegetation patterning in water-limited and other resource-limited ecosystems highlights spatial self-organization processes as potentially key drivers of community assembly. These processes provide insight into predictable landscape-level relationships between organisms and their abiotic environment in the form of regular and irregular patterns of biota and resources. However, two aspects have largely been overlooked; the roles played by plant - soil-biota feedbacks and allelopathy in spatial self-organization, and their potential contribution, along with plant-resource feedbacks, to community assembly through spatial self-organization. Here, we expand the drivers of spatial self-organization from a focus on plant-resource feedbacks to include plant - soil-biota feedbacks and allelopathy, and integrate concepts of nonlinear physics and community ecology to generate a new hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, below-ground processes can affect community assemblages through two types of spatial self-organization, global and local. The former occurs simultaneously across whole ecosystems, leading to self-organized patterns of biota, allelochemicals and resources, and niche partitioning. The latter occurs locally in ecotones, and determines ecotone structure and motion, invasion dynamics, and species coexistence. Studies of the two forms of spatial self-organization are important for understanding the organization of plant communities in drier climates which are likely to involve spatial patterning or re-patterning. Such studies are also important for developing new practices of ecosystem management, based on local manipulations at ecotones, to slow invasion dynamics or induce transitions from transitive to intransitive networks of interspecific interactions which increase species diversity.
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Verwijmeren M, Baudena M, Wassen M, Díaz‐Sierra R, Smit C, Rietkerk M. Intra‐seasonal rainfall variability and herbivory affect the interaction outcome of two dryland plant species. Ecosphere 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3492] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- M. Verwijmeren
- Environmental Sciences Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development Utrecht University Princetonlaan 8aP.O. Box 80115 Utrecht CB3584The Netherlands
- School of Life Sciences Avans University of Applied Science Breda AJ4818The Netherlands
| | - M. Baudena
- Environmental Sciences Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development Utrecht University Princetonlaan 8aP.O. Box 80115 Utrecht CB3584The Netherlands
| | - M. Wassen
- Environmental Sciences Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development Utrecht University Princetonlaan 8aP.O. Box 80115 Utrecht CB3584The Netherlands
| | - R. Díaz‐Sierra
- Environmental Sciences Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development Utrecht University Princetonlaan 8aP.O. Box 80115 Utrecht CB3584The Netherlands
- Mathematical and Fluid Physics Department Faculty of Sciences Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, UNED Madrid28040Spain
| | - C. Smit
- Conservation Ecology Group Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences University of Groningen P.O. Box 11103 Groningen CC9700The Netherlands
| | - M. Rietkerk
- Environmental Sciences Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development Utrecht University Princetonlaan 8aP.O. Box 80115 Utrecht CB3584The Netherlands
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7
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Eigentler L. Species coexistence in resource‐limited patterned ecosystems is facilitated by the interplay of spatial self‐organisation and intraspecific competition. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.07880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- L. Eigentler
- Division of Molecular Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, Univ. of Dundee Dundee UK
- Maxwell Inst. for Mathematical Sciences, Dept of Mathematics, Heriot‐Watt Univ. Edinburgh UK
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8
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Soil arthropods indicate the range of plant facilitation on the soil of Mediterranean drylands. THEOR ECOL-NETH 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12080-020-00498-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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9
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Tzuk O, Uecker H, Meron E. The role of spatial self-organization in the design of agroforestry systems. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0236325. [PMID: 32692773 PMCID: PMC7373287 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2019] [Accepted: 07/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of sustainable agricultural systems in drylands is currently a crucial issue in the context of mitigating the outcomes of population growth under the conditions of climatic changes. The need to meet the growing demand for food, fodder, and fuel, together with the hazards due to climate change, requires cross-disciplinary studies of ways to increase livelihood while minimizing the impact on the environment. Practices of agroforestry systems, in which herbaceous species are intercropped between rows of woody species plantations, have been shown to mitigate several of the predicaments of climatic changes. Focusing on agroforestry in drylands, we address the question of how we can improve the performance of agroforestry systems in those areas. As vegetation in drylands tends to self-organize in various patterns, it seems essential to explore the various patterns that agroforestry systems tend to form and their impact on the performance of these systems in terms of biomass production, resilience to droughts, and water use efficiency. We use a two-soil-layers vegetation model to study the relationship between deep-rooted woody vegetation and shallow herbaceous vegetation, and explore how self-organization in different spatial patterns influences the performance of agroforestry systems. We focus on three generic classes of patterns, spots, gaps, and stripes, assess these patterns using common metrics for agroforestry systems, and examine their resilience to droughts. We show that in contrast to the widespread practice of planting the woody and herbaceous species in alternating rows, that is, in a stripe pattern, planting the woody species in hexagonal spot patterns may increase the system's resilience to droughts. Furthermore, hexagonal spot patterns reduce the suppression of herbs growth by the woody vegetation, therefore maintaining higher crop yields. We conclude by discussing some limitations of this study and their significance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omer Tzuk
- Department of Physics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
- * E-mail:
| | - Hannes Uecker
- Institut für Mathematik, Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Ehud Meron
- Department of Physics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
- Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel
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10
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Medina-Villar S, Uscola M, Pérez-Corona ME, Jacobs DF. Environmental stress under climate change reduces plant performance, yet increases allelopathic potential of an invasive shrub. Biol Invasions 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-020-02286-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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11
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Yizhaq H, Shachak M, Meron E. A model study of terraced riverbeds as novel ecosystems. Sci Rep 2020; 10:3782. [PMID: 32123214 PMCID: PMC7052233 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-60706-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2019] [Accepted: 02/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Riverbed terracing has been introduced in ancient times to retain water and soil, to reduce hydrological connectivity and erosion and to increase primary and secondary productivity of agro-ecological systems. These presently abandoned human-made landscapes have become novel ecosystems and a potential source of ecosystem services to humans in drylands. We use a mathematical-modeling approach to study factors that regulate terraced riverbeds and affect community and ecosystem attributes such as productivity, functional diversity and resilience to droughts. We introduce a model that captures the relationships between rainfall pattern, runoff coupling between adjacent terraces, and vegetation growth, taking into account competition for water and light. We found that a large number of weak rainfall events results in lower total biomass and functional diversity across the terraced riverbed compared with a few strong rainfall events. We further analyzed the filtering of species traits from pools of functional groups that make different tradeoffs between investment in above-ground biomass to capture canopy resources and investment in below-ground biomass to capture soil resources. Pools characterized by concave tradeoffs give rise to higher functional diversity, lower biomass production and lower resilience to droughts, as compared with convex pools. New empirical studies are needed to test these model predictions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hezi Yizhaq
- Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, Midreshet Ben Gurion, 8499000, Israel.
| | - Moshe Shachak
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, Midreshet Ben Gurion, 8499000, Israel
| | - Ehud Meron
- Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, Midreshet Ben Gurion, 8499000, Israel.,Physics Department, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, 8410501, Israel
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12
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Eigentler L. Intraspecific competition in models for vegetation patterns: Decrease in resilience to aridity and facilitation of species coexistence. ECOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecocom.2020.100835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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13
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Eigentler L, Sherratt J. Spatial self-organisation enables species coexistence in a model for savanna ecosystems. J Theor Biol 2020; 487:110122. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2019.110122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2019] [Revised: 11/18/2019] [Accepted: 12/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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14
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Continuum Modeling of Discrete Plant Communities: Why Does It Work and Why Is It Advantageous? MATHEMATICS 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/math7100987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Understanding ecosystem response to drier climates calls for modeling the dynamics of dryland plant populations, which are crucial determinants of ecosystem function, as they constitute the basal level of whole food webs. Two modeling approaches are widely used in population dynamics, individual (agent)-based models and continuum partial-differential-equation (PDE) models. The latter are advantageous in lending themselves to powerful methodologies of mathematical analysis, but the question of whether they are suitable to describe small discrete plant populations, as is often found in dryland ecosystems, has remained largely unaddressed. In this paper, we first draw attention to two aspects of plants that distinguish them from most other organisms—high phenotypic plasticity and dispersal of stress-tolerant seeds—and argue in favor of PDE modeling, where the state variables that describe population sizes are not discrete number densities, but rather continuous biomass densities. We then discuss a few examples that demonstrate the utility of PDE models in providing deep insights into landscape-scale behaviors, such as the onset of pattern forming instabilities, multiplicity of stable ecosystem states, regular and irregular, and the possible roles of front instabilities in reversing desertification. We briefly mention a few additional examples, and conclude by outlining the nature of the information we should and should not expect to gain from PDE model studies.
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15
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Eigentler L, Sherratt JA. Metastability as a Coexistence Mechanism in a Model for Dryland Vegetation Patterns. Bull Math Biol 2019; 81:2290-2322. [PMID: 31012031 DOI: 10.1007/s11538-019-00606-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2018] [Accepted: 04/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Vegetation patterns are a ubiquitous feature of water-deprived ecosystems. Despite the competition for the same limiting resource, coexistence of several plant species is commonly observed. We propose a two-species reaction-diffusion model based on the single-species Klausmeier model, to analytically investigate the existence of states in which both species coexist. Ecologically, the study finds that coexistence is supported if there is a small difference in the plant species' average fitness, measured by the ratio of a species' capabilities to convert water into new biomass to its mortality rate. Mathematically, coexistence is not a stable solution of the system, but both spatially uniform and patterned coexistence states occur as metastable states. In this context, a metastable solution in which both species coexist corresponds to a long transient (exceeding [Formula: see text] years in dimensional parameters) to a stable one-species state. This behaviour is characterised by the small size of a positive eigenvalue which has the same order of magnitude as the average fitness difference between the two species. Two mechanisms causing the occurrence of metastable solutions are established: a spatially uniform unstable equilibrium and a stable one-species pattern which is unstable to the introduction of a competitor. We further discuss effects of asymmetric interspecific competition (e.g. shading) on the metastability property.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas Eigentler
- Department of Mathematics, Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, UK.
| | - Jonathan A Sherratt
- Department of Mathematics, Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, UK
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16
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Grabovsky VI. A Model of Vegetation Cover in Conditions of Resource Scarcity: Fairy Rings in Namibia. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018. [DOI: 10.1134/s2079086418030064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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17
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Fisher RA, Koven CD, Anderegg WRL, Christoffersen BO, Dietze MC, Farrior CE, Holm JA, Hurtt GC, Knox RG, Lawrence PJ, Lichstein JW, Longo M, Matheny AM, Medvigy D, Muller-Landau HC, Powell TL, Serbin SP, Sato H, Shuman JK, Smith B, Trugman AT, Viskari T, Verbeeck H, Weng E, Xu C, Xu X, Zhang T, Moorcroft PR. Vegetation demographics in Earth System Models: A review of progress and priorities. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2018; 24:35-54. [PMID: 28921829 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 183] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2017] [Revised: 08/12/2017] [Accepted: 08/17/2017] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Numerous current efforts seek to improve the representation of ecosystem ecology and vegetation demographic processes within Earth System Models (ESMs). These developments are widely viewed as an important step in developing greater realism in predictions of future ecosystem states and fluxes. Increased realism, however, leads to increased model complexity, with new features raising a suite of ecological questions that require empirical constraints. Here, we review the developments that permit the representation of plant demographics in ESMs, and identify issues raised by these developments that highlight important gaps in ecological understanding. These issues inevitably translate into uncertainty in model projections but also allow models to be applied to new processes and questions concerning the dynamics of real-world ecosystems. We argue that stronger and more innovative connections to data, across the range of scales considered, are required to address these gaps in understanding. The development of first-generation land surface models as a unifying framework for ecophysiological understanding stimulated much research into plant physiological traits and gas exchange. Constraining predictions at ecologically relevant spatial and temporal scales will require a similar investment of effort and intensified inter-disciplinary communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosie A Fisher
- National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA
| | | | | | | | - Michael C Dietze
- Department of Earth and Environment, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Caroline E Farrior
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | | | - George C Hurtt
- Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Ryan G Knox
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Marcos Longo
- Embrapa Agricultural Informatics, Campinas, Brazil
| | - Ashley M Matheny
- Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - David Medvigy
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
| | | | | | - Shawn P Serbin
- Environmental and Climate Sciences Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA
| | - Hisashi Sato
- Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokohama, Japan
| | | | - Benjamin Smith
- Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Anna T Trugman
- Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Toni Viskari
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panamá, Panamá
| | - Hans Verbeeck
- Department of Applied Ecology and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
| | - Ensheng Weng
- Center for Climate Systems Research, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Chonggang Xu
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | - Xiangtao Xu
- Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Tao Zhang
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Paul R Moorcroft
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
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18
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Ying Z, Liao J, Liu Y, Wang S, Lu H, Ma L, Chen D, Li Z. Modelling tree-grass coexistence in water-limited ecosystems. Ecol Modell 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2017.07.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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19
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Quets JJ, El‐Bana MI, Al‐Rowaily SL, Assaeed AM, Temmerman S, Nijs I. A mechanism of self‐organization in a desert with phytogenic mounds. Ecosphere 2016. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.1494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Jan J. Quets
- Department of BiologyCenter of Excellence PLECO (Plant and Vegetation Ecology)University of Antwerp Universiteitsplein 1 BE‐2610 Wilrijk Belgium
| | - Magdy I. El‐Bana
- Department of BotanyFaculty of SciencePort Said University 42521 Port Said Egypt
| | - Saud L. Al‐Rowaily
- Department of Plant ProductionCollege of AgricultureKing Saud University PO Box 2460 Riyadh Saudi Arabia
| | - Abdulaziz M. Assaeed
- Department of Plant ProductionCollege of AgricultureKing Saud University PO Box 2460 Riyadh Saudi Arabia
| | - Stijn Temmerman
- Ecosystem ManagementDepartment of BiologyUniversity of Antwerp Universiteitsplein 1 BE‐2610 Wilrijk Belgium
| | - Ivan Nijs
- Department of BiologyCenter of Excellence PLECO (Plant and Vegetation Ecology)University of Antwerp Universiteitsplein 1 BE‐2610 Wilrijk Belgium
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An impulsive modelling framework of fire occurrence in a size-structured model of tree-grass interactions for savanna ecosystems. J Math Biol 2016; 74:1425-1482. [PMID: 27659304 DOI: 10.1007/s00285-016-1060-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2015] [Revised: 06/21/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Fires and mean annual rainfall are major factors that regulate woody and grassy biomasses in savanna ecosystems. Within the savanna biome, conditions of long-lasting coexistence of trees and grasses have been often studied using continuous-time modelling of tree-grass competition. In these studies, fire is a time-continuous forcing while the relationship between woody plant size and fire-sensitivity is not systematically considered. In this paper, we propose a new mathematical framework to model tree-grass interactions that takes into account both the impulsive nature of fire occurrence and size-dependent fire sensitivity (via two classes of woody plants). We carry out a qualitative analysis that highlights ecological thresholds and bifurcation parameters that shape the dynamics of the savanna-like systems within the main ecological zones. Through a qualitative analysis, we show that the impulsive modelling of fire occurrences leads to more diverse behaviors including cases of grassland, savanna and forest tristability and a more realistic array of solutions than the analogous time-continuous fire models. Numerical simulations are carried out with respect to the three main ecological contexts (moist, mesic, semi-arid) to illustrate the theoretical results and to support a discussion about the bifurcation parameters and the advantages of the model.
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21
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Pattern formation – A missing link in the study of ecosystem response to environmental changes. Math Biosci 2016; 271:1-18. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mbs.2015.10.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2015] [Revised: 10/17/2015] [Accepted: 10/23/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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22
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Synodinos AD, Tietjen B, Jeltsch F. Facilitation in drylands: Modeling a neglected driver of savanna dynamics. Ecol Modell 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.02.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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23
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Kyriazopoulos P, Nathan J, Meron E. Species coexistence by front pinning. ECOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecocom.2014.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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24
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Zhang L, Thygesen UH, Banerjee M. Size-dependent diffusion promotes the emergence of spatiotemporal patterns. PHYSICAL REVIEW. E, STATISTICAL, NONLINEAR, AND SOFT MATTER PHYSICS 2014; 90:012904. [PMID: 25122357 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.90.012904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2013] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Spatiotemporal patterns, indicating the spatiotemporal variability of individual abundance, are a pronounced scenario in ecological interactions. Most of the existing models for spatiotemporal patterns treat species as homogeneous groups of individuals with average characteristics by ignoring intraspecific physiological variations at the individual level. Here we explore the impacts of size variation within species resulting from individual ontogeny, on the emergence of spatiotemporal patterns in a fully size-structured population model. We found that size dependency of animal's diffusivity greatly promotes the formation of spatiotemporal patterns, by creating regular spatiotemporal patterns out of temporal chaos. We also found that size-dependent diffusion can substitute large-amplitude base harmonics with spatiotemporal patterns with lower amplitude oscillations but with enriched harmonics. Finally, we found that the single-generation cycle is more likely to drive spatiotemporal patterns compared to predator-prey cycles, meaning that the mechanism of Hopf bifurcation might be more common than hitherto appreciated since the former cycle is more widespread than the latter in case of interacting populations. Due to the ubiquity of individual ontogeny in natural ecosystems we conclude that diffusion variability within populations is a significant driving force for the emergence of spatiotemporal patterns. Our results offer a perspective on self-organized phenomena, and pave a way to understand such phenomena in systems organized as complex ecological networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lai Zhang
- Department of Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics, Umeå University, SE-90187, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Uffe Høgsbro Thygesen
- National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, Charlottenlund Slot, Jægerborg Allé 1, DK-2910 Charlottenlund, Denmark
| | - Malay Banerjee
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, Kanpur-208016, India
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Nathan J, von Hardenberg J, Meron E. Spatial instabilities untie the exclusion-principle constraint on species coexistence. J Theor Biol 2013; 335:198-204. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2013.06.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2012] [Revised: 06/20/2013] [Accepted: 06/21/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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26
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Komac B, Kefi S, Nuche P, Escós J, Alados CL. Modeling shrub encroachment in subalpine grasslands under different environmental and management scenarios. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2013; 121:160-169. [PMID: 23542214 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2013.01.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2012] [Revised: 01/15/2013] [Accepted: 01/27/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Woody plants are spreading in many alpine and subalpine ecosystems and are expected to continue increasing in response to land abandonment and global warming. This encroachment threatens species diversity, and considerable efforts have been deployed to control it. In this study, we combined a lattice model and field data to investigate the efficiency of different management strategies in controlling shrub encroachment in alpine grasslands. The model parameter values were estimated in the field based on the thorny shrub Echinospartum horridum (erizón) which is currently encroaching in central Spanish Pyrenees. Our study shows that encroachment could accelerate if climate warming continues. Different management scenarios consisting of a gradient of livestock pressures, fire events and mechanical removal were simulated to identify scenarios able to control the expansion of shrubs into grasslands. Our study shows that grazing alone cannot stop encroachment. Rather, a combination of grazing and shrub removal (either by fire or mechanical removal) is needed, and our model can help estimate the frequency and intensities of the shrub removal. This model can be used to investigate the consequences of different management scenarios and environmental variability which could be of practical value in the preservation of alpine grasslands.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Komac
- Centre d'Estudis de la Neu i la Muntanya d'Andorra (CENMA - IEA), Avinguda Rocafort 21-23, Sant Julià de Lòria, Andorra
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27
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Quets JJ, Temmerman S, El-Bana MI, Al-Rowaily SL, Assaeed AM, Nijs I. Unraveling landscapes with phytogenic mounds (nebkhas): An exploration of spatial pattern. ACTA OECOLOGICA-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.actao.2013.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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28
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Jiang J, Gao D, DeAngelis DL. Towards a theory of ecotone resilience: Coastal vegetation on a salinity gradient. Theor Popul Biol 2012; 82:29-37. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2012.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2011] [Revised: 02/20/2012] [Accepted: 02/23/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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29
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31
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Herben T, Wildová R. Community-level effects of plant traits in a grassland community examined by multispecies model of clonal plant growth. Ecol Modell 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2011.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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32
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Oborny B, Mony C, Herben T. From virtual plants to real communities: A review of modelling clonal growth. Ecol Modell 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2012.03.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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33
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34
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De Michele C, Accatino F, Vezzoli R, Scholes RJ. Savanna domain in the herbivores-fire parameter space exploiting a tree–grass–soil water dynamic model. J Theor Biol 2011; 289:74-82. [PMID: 21875600 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2011.08.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2011] [Revised: 08/04/2011] [Accepted: 08/13/2011] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- C De Michele
- DIIAR, Politecnico di Milano, P.zza L. da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy.
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35
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Pérez-de-Mora A, Madejón P, Burgos P, Cabrera F, Lepp NW, Madejón E. Phytostabilization of semiarid soils residually contaminated with trace elements using by-products: sustainability and risks. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2011; 159:3018-3027. [PMID: 21561696 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2011.04.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2010] [Revised: 04/03/2011] [Accepted: 04/07/2011] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
We investigated the efficiency of various by-products (sugarbeet lime, biosolid compost and leonardite), based on single or repeated applications to field plots, on the establishment of a vegetation cover compatible with a stabilization strategy on a multi-element (As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn) contaminated soil 4-6 years after initial amendment applications. Results indicate that the need for re-treatment is amendment- and element-dependent; in some cases, a single application may reduce trace element concentrations in above-ground biomass and enhance the establishment of a healthy vegetation cover. Amendment performance as evaluated by % cover, biomass and number of colonizing taxa differs; however, changes in plant community composition are not necessarily amendment-specific. Although the translocation of trace elements to the plant biotic compartment is greater in re-vegetated areas, overall loss of trace elements due to soil erosion and plant uptake is usually smaller compared to that in bare soil.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfredo Pérez-de-Mora
- Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla, CSIC, PO Box 1052, 41080 Sevilla, Spain.
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36
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Goto Y, Hilhorst D, Meron E, Temam R. Existence theorem for a model of dryland vegetation. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011. [DOI: 10.3934/dcdsb.2011.16.197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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37
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Wahl M, Jormalainen V, Eriksson BK, Coyer JA, Molis M, Schubert H, Dethier M, Karez R, Kruse I, Lenz M, Pearson G, Rohde S, Wikström SA, Olsen JL. Stress ecology in fucus: abiotic, biotic and genetic interactions. ADVANCES IN MARINE BIOLOGY 2011; 59:37-105. [PMID: 21724018 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-385536-7.00002-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Stress regimes defined as the synchronous or sequential action of abiotic and biotic stresses determine the performance and distribution of species. The natural patterns of stress to which species are more or less well adapted have recently started to shift and alter under the influence of global change. This was the motivation to review our knowledge on the stress ecology of a benthic key player, the macroalgal genus Fucus. We first provide a comprehensive review of the genus as an ecological model including what is currently known about the major lineages of Fucus species with respect to hybridization, ecotypic differentiation and speciation; as well as life history, population structure and geographic distribution. We then review our current understanding of both extrinsic (abiotic/biotic) and intrinsic (genetic) stress(es) on Fucus species and how they interact with each other. It is concluded that (i) interactive stress effects appear to be equally distributed over additive, antagonistic and synergistic categories at the level of single experiments, but are predominantly additive when averaged over all studies in a meta-analysis of 41 experiments; (ii) juvenile and adult responses to stress frequently differ and (iii) several species or particular populations of Fucus may be relatively unaffected by climate change as a consequence of pre-adapted ecotypes that collectively express wide physiological tolerences. Future research on Fucus should (i) include additional species, (ii) include marginal populations as models for responses to environmental stress; (iii) assess a wider range of stress combinations, including their temporal fluctuations; (iv) better differentiate between stress sensitivity of juvenile versus adult stages; (v) include a functional genomic component in order to better integrate Fucus' ecological and evolutionary responses to stress regimes and (vi) utilize a multivariate modelling approach in order to develop and understand interaction networks.
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38
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Mechanisms of vegetation-ring formation in water-limited systems. J Theor Biol 2010; 273:138-46. [PMID: 21187102 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2010.12.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2010] [Revised: 12/19/2010] [Accepted: 12/20/2010] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
A common patch form in dryland landscapes is the vegetation ring. Vegetation patch formation has recently been attributed to self-organization processes that act to increase the availability of water to vegetation patches under conditions of water scarcity. The view of ring formation as a water-limited process, however, has remained largely unexplored. Using laboratory experiments and model studies we identify two distinct mechanisms of ring formation. The first mechanism pertains to conditions of high infiltration contrast between vegetated and bare soil, under which overland water flow is intercepted at the patch periphery. The decreasing amount of water that the patch core receives as the patch expands, leads to central dieback and ring formation. The second mechanism pertains to plants with large lateral root zones, and involves central dieback and ring formation due to increasing water uptake by the newly recruited individuals at the patch periphery. In general the two mechanisms act in concert, but the relative importance of each mechanism depends on environmental conditions. We found that strong seasonal rainfall variability favors ring formation by the overland-flow mechanism, while a uniform rainfall regime favors ring formation by the water-uptake mechanism. Our results explain the formation of rings by fast-growing species with confined root zones in a dry-Mediterranean climate, such as Poa bulbosa. They also explain the formation of rings by slowly growing species with highly extended root zones, such as Larrea tridentata (Creosotebush).
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39
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Dunkerley D. Ecogeomorphology in the Australian drylands and the role of biota in mediating the effects of climate change on landscape processes and evolution. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.1144/sp346.7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
AbstractAustralian dryland landscape has developed under the influence of aridity, low relief, tectonic stability and biota adapted to nutrient and water scarcity. The biota in general, but notably the plants, mediates the impact of water scarcity and of climate change on ecohydrological and geomorphological processes. It reduce the partitioning of rain into overland flow, and so limit soil erosion, notably through the development of patch structures that partition the landscape into local runoff sources and runon sinks. In large rain events, when flow does reach ephemeral streams, channel-associated plants again modify flow conditions, reducing flow speeds and flow competence. Given the diverse influences of biota on landscape processes, it is argued that it likewise moderated the effects of Quaternary and Holocene climate change. Field evidence from Australian and other drylands suggests that the effect of changing land surface properties on runoff and erosion may exceed the effect of moderate climate change. Knowledge of the role of dryland biota and its role in land surface change is therefore a prerequisite to understanding the responses of landscapes to climate change, to understanding the complex spatio-temporal variability in landscape development, and to developing the ability to correctly interpret the alluvial record of changing geomorphological processes in terms of changes in climate and other external drivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Dunkerley
- School of Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia (e-mail: )
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40
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The role of reproductive plant traits and biotic interactions in the dynamics of semi-arid plant communities. Theor Popul Biol 2010; 78:289-97. [PMID: 20875441 DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2010.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2010] [Revised: 07/30/2010] [Accepted: 09/08/2010] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The dynamics of semi-arid plant communities are determined by the interplay between competition and facilitation among plants. The sign and strength of these biotic interactions depend on plant traits. However, the relationships between plant traits and biotic interactions, and the consequences for plant communities are still poorly understood. Our objective here was to investigate, with a modelling approach, the role of plant reproductive traits on biotic interactions, and the consequences for processes such as plant succession and invasion. The dynamics of two plant types were modelled with a spatially-explicit integrodifferential model: (1) a plant with seed dispersal (colonizer of bare soil) and (2) a plant with local vegetative propagation (local competitor). Both plant types were involved in facilitation due to a local positive feedback between vegetation biomass and soil water availability, which promoted establishment and growth. Plants in the system also competed for limited water. The efficiency in water acquisition (dependent on reproductive and growth plant traits) determined which plant type dominated the community at the steady state. Facilitative interactions between plant types also played an important role in the community dynamics, promoting establishment in the driest conditions and recovery from low biomass. Plants with vegetative propagation took advantage of the ability of seed dispersers to establish on bare soil from a low initial biomass. Seed dispersers were good invaders, maintained high biomass at intermediate and high rainfall and showed a high ability in taking profit from the positive feedback originated by plants with vegetative propagation under the driest conditions. However, seed dispersers lost competitiveness with an increasing investment in fecundity. All together, our results showed that reproductive plant traits can affect the balance between facilitative and competitive interactions. Understanding this effect of plant traits on biotic interactions provides insights in processes such as plant succession and shrub encroachment.
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41
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Ruotsalainen A, Markkola A, Kozlov M. Birch effects on root fungal colonisation of crowberry are uniform along different environmental gradients. Basic Appl Ecol 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.baae.2010.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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42
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Grau O, Rautio P, Heikkinen J, Saravesi K, Kozlov MV, Markkola A. An ericoid shrub plays a dual role in recruiting both pines and their fungal symbionts along primary succession gradients. OIKOS 2010. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2010.18511.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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43
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von Hardenberg J, Kletter AY, Yizhaq H, Nathan J, Meron E. Periodic versus scale-free patterns in dryland vegetation. Proc Biol Sci 2010; 277:1771-6. [PMID: 20133355 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2009.2208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Two major forms of vegetation patterns have been observed in drylands: nearly periodic patterns with characteristic length scales, and amorphous, scale-free patterns with wide patch-size distributions. The emergence of scale-free patterns has been attributed to global competition over a limiting resource, but the physical and ecological origin of this phenomenon is not understood. Using a spatially explicit mathematical model for vegetation dynamics in water-limited systems, we unravel a general mechanism for global competition: fast spatial distribution of the water resource relative to processes that exploit or absorb it. We study two possible realizations of this mechanism and identify physical and ecological conditions for scale-free patterns. We conclude by discussing the implications of this study for interpreting signals of imminent desertification.
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45
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Kéfi S, Eppinga MB, de Ruiter PC, Rietkerk M. Bistability and regular spatial patterns in arid ecosystems. THEOR ECOL-NETH 2010. [DOI: 10.1007/s12080-009-0067-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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46
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Abstract
Plants are limited in their ability to choose their neighbours, but they are able to orchestrate a wide spectrum of rational competitive behaviours that increase their prospects to prevail under various ecological settings. Through the perception of neighbours, plants are able to anticipate probable competitive interactions and modify their competitive behaviours to maximize their long-term gains. Specifically, plants can minimize competitive encounters by avoiding their neighbours; maximize their competitive effects by aggressively confronting their neighbours; or tolerate the competitive effects of their neighbours. However, the adaptive values of these non-mutually exclusive options are expected to depend strongly on the plants' evolutionary background and to change dynamically according to their past development, and relative sizes and vigour. Additionally, the magnitude of competitive responsiveness is expected to be positively correlated with the reliability of the environmental information regarding the expected competitive interactions and the expected time left for further plastic modifications. Concurrent competition over external and internal resources and morphogenetic signals may enable some plants to increase their efficiency and external competitive performance by discriminately allocating limited resources to their more promising organs at the expense of failing or less successful organs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariel Novoplansky
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boqer Campus 84990, Israel.
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47
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48
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Patterned vegetation and rainfall intermittency. J Theor Biol 2008; 256:574-83. [PMID: 19026663 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2008.10.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2008] [Revised: 10/01/2008] [Accepted: 10/24/2008] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
We study a mathematical model for the dynamics of patterned dryland vegetation in the presence of rainfall intermittency, adopting a spatially explicit approach. We find that most results found for constant precipitation carry over to the case of intermittent rainfall, with a few important novelties. For intermittent precipitation, the functional forms of the water uptake and consequently of the vegetation growth rate play an important role. Nonlinear, concave-up forms of water uptake as a function of soil moisture lead to a beneficial effect of rainfall intermittency, with a stronger effect when vegetation feedbacks are absent. The results obtained with the explicit-space model employed here are in keeping with those provided by simpler, implicit-space approaches, and provide a more complete view of vegetation dynamics in arid ecosystems.
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49
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Vegetation pattern shift as a result of rising atmospheric CO2 in arid ecosystems. Theor Popul Biol 2008; 74:332-44. [PMID: 18930071 DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2008.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2008] [Revised: 07/17/2008] [Accepted: 09/17/2008] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Arid ecosystems are expected to be among the ecosystems most sensitive to climate change. Here, we explore via model calculations how regular vegetation patterns, widely observed in arid ecosystems, respond to projected climatic shifts as provided by general circulation model output. In our model, the photosynthesis and respiration terms are explicitly linked to physiological attributes of the plants and are forced with the primary climatic drivers: atmospheric CO(2), air temperature, and precipitation. Under future climate scenarios, our simulations show that the system's fate depends on whether the enhancements to photosynthesis due to elevated atmospheric CO(2) outweigh the increases in respiration due to higher air temperatures and the increases in water stress due to lower rainfall. A scalar measure is proposed to quantify this balance between the changes in the three climate drivers. Our model results suggest that knowing how the three primary climate drivers are evolving may provide hints as to whether the ecosystem is approaching desertification.
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50
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Meron E, Yizhaq H, Gilad E. Localized structures in dryland vegetation: forms and functions. CHAOS (WOODBURY, N.Y.) 2007; 17:037109. [PMID: 17903016 DOI: 10.1063/1.2767246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Vegetation patches in drylands are localized structures of biomass and water. We study these structures using a mathematical modeling approach that captures biomass-water feedbacks. Biomass-water structures are found to differ in their spatial forms and ecological functions, depending on species type, soil conditions, precipitation range, and other environmental factors. Asymptotic spot structures can destabilize to form ring structures, expanding in the radial direction, or crescent structures, migrating uphill. Stable spot structures can differ in their soil-water distributions, forming water-enriched patches or water-deprived patches. The various biomass-water structures are expected to function differently in the context of a plant community, forming landscapes of varying species diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ehud Meron
- Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics, BIDR, Ben-Gurion University, Sede Boqer Campus, 84990, Israel
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