Termite mounds can increase the robustness of dryland ecosystems to climatic change
Bonachela, Juan A. and Pringle, Robert M. and Sheffer, Efrat and Coverdale, Tyler C. and Guyton, Jennifer A. and Caylor, Kelly K. and Levin, Simon A. and Tarnita, Corina E. (2015) Termite mounds can increase the robustness of dryland ecosystems to climatic change. Science, 347 (6222). pp. 651-655. ISSN 0036-8075 (https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1261487)
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Abstract
Self-organized spatial vegetation patterning is widespread and has been described using models of scale-dependent feedback between plants and water on homogeneous substrates. As rainfall decreases, these models yield a characteristic sequence of patterns with increasingly sparse vegetation, followed by sudden collapse to desert. Thus, the final, spot-like pattern may provide early warning for such catastrophic shifts. In many arid ecosystems, however, termite nests impart substrate heterogeneity by altering soil properties, thereby enhancing plant growth.We show that termite-induced heterogeneity interacts with scale-dependent feedbacks to produce vegetation patterns at different spatial grains. Although the coarse-grained patterning resembles that created by scale-dependent feedback alone, it does not indicate imminent desertification. Rather, mound-field landscapes are more robust to aridity, suggesting that termites may help stabilize ecosystems under global change.
ORCID iDs
Bonachela, Juan A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3316-8120, Pringle, Robert M., Sheffer, Efrat, Coverdale, Tyler C., Guyton, Jennifer A., Caylor, Kelly K., Levin, Simon A. and Tarnita, Corina E.;-
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Item type: Article ID code: 53707 Dates: DateEvent6 February 2015Published16 December 2014AcceptedSubjects: Science > Mathematics > Probabilities. Mathematical statistics Department: Faculty of Science > Mathematics and Statistics Depositing user: Pure Administrator Date deposited: 14 Jul 2015 08:27 Last modified: 04 Oct 2024 00:22 Related URLs: URI: https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/53707