Self-Replication of Localized Vegetation Patches in Scarce Environments

• DOI: 10.1038/srep33703
• Publication Date: 2016-09-21T09:27:20Z
• Authors: Ignacio Bordeu; Marcel G. Clerc; Piere Couteron; René Lefever; Mustapha Tlidi
• Keywords: [SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics; 910; Ecosistemas; reaction-diffusion system; [SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy; electric-field; 01 natural sciences; tiger bush; Article; facilitation; [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Ecosystems; 0103 physical sciences; origin; surface; 2. Zero hunger; Phylogenetics and taxonomy; [SDV.BV.BOT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology/Botanics; 15. Life on land; Physique des phénomènes non linéaires; pattern-formation; 13. Climate action; [SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; cholesteric fingers; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; environment/Ecosystems; spots

AbstractDesertification due to climate change and increasing drought periods is a worldwide problem for both ecology and economy. Our ability to understand how vegetation manages to survive and propagate through arid and semiarid ecosystems may be useful in the development of future strategies to prevent desertification, preserve flora—and fauna within—or even make use of scarce resources soils. In this paper, we study a robust phenomena observed in semi-arid ecosystems, by which localized vegetation patches split in a process called self-replication. Localized patches of vegetation are visible in nature at various spatial scales. Even though they have been described in literature, their growth mechanisms remain largely unexplored. Here, we develop an innovative statistical analysis based on real field observations to show that patches may exhibit deformation and splitting. This growth mechanism is opposite to the desertification since it allows to repopulate territories devoid of vegetation. We investigate these aspects by characterizing quantitatively, with a simple mathematical model, a new class of instabilities that lead to the self-replication phenomenon observed.