Multistability of model and real dryland ecosystems through spatial self-organization.

ABSTRACT: Spatial self-organization of dryland vegetation constitutes one of the most promising indicators for an ecosystem's proximity to desertification. This insight is based on studies of reaction-diffusion models that reproduce visual characteristics of vegetation patterns observed on aerial photographs. However, until now, the development of reliable early warning systems has been hampered by the lack of more in-depth comparisons between model predictions and real ecosystem patterns. In this paper, we combined topographical data, (remotely sensed) optical data, and in situ biomass measurements from two sites in Somalia to generate a multilevel description of dryland vegetation patterns. We performed an in-depth comparison between these observed vegetation pattern characteristics and prediction

SUBMITTER: Bastiaansen R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6217401 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature