Aggregation dynamics explain vegetation patch-size distributions

Irvine, Michael A.; Bull, James C.; Keeling, Matthew James

doi:10.1016/j.tpb.2015.12.001

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Old Grimsby Harbour is clearly impacted by damage to the seabed, which provides external forcing of the spatial pattern of seagrass – essentially large holes in previously more uniform vegetation 59 . In contrast, it is not immediately clear what the cause of decline is at Higher Town Bay and a much larger range of patch sizes and spatial complexity is observed there 52 , likely driven by endogenous dynamics 67 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Low genotypic diversity and long-term ecological decline in a spatially structured seagrass population

Alotaibi

Cook

Börger

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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In isolated or declining populations, viability may be compromised further by loss of genetic diversity. Therefore, it is important to understand the relationship between long-term ecological trajectories and population genetic structure. However, opportunities to combine these types of data are rare, especially in natural systems. Using an existing panel of 15 microsatellites, we estimated allelic diversity in seagrass, Zostera marina, at five sites around the Isles of Scilly Special Area of Conservation, UK, in 2010 and compared this to 23 years of annual ecological monitoring (1996–2018). We found low diversity and long-term declines in abundance in this relatively pristine but isolated location. Inclusion of the snapshot of genotypic, but less-so genetic, diversity improved prediction of abundance trajectories; however, this was spatial scale-dependent. Selection of the appropriate level of genetic organization and spatial scale for monitoring is, therefore, important to identify drivers of eco-evolutionary dynamics. This has implications for the use of population genetic information in conservation, management, and spatial planning.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Low genotypic diversity and long-term ecological decline in a spatially structured seagrass population

Alotaibi

Cook

Börger

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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“…Another possible mechanism is facilitation 80,81 : a patch surrounded by forest will have a smaller probability of being deforested or degraded than an isolated patch. The model of Scanlon et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Power laws and critical fragmentation in global forests

Saravia

Doyle

Bond‐Lamberty

2018

Sci Rep

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The replacement of forest areas with human-dominated landscapes usually leads to fragmentation, altering the structure and function of the forest. Here we studied the dynamics of forest patch sizes at a global level, examining signals of a critical transition from an unfragmented to a fragmented state, using the MODIS vegetation continuous field. We defined wide regions of connected forest across continents and big islands, and combined five criteria, including the distribution of patch sizes and the fluctuations of the largest patch over the last sixteen years, to evaluate the closeness of each region to a fragmentation threshold. Regions with the highest deforestation rates–South America, Southeast Asia, Africa–all met these criteria and may thus be near a critical fragmentation threshold. This implies that if current forest loss rates are maintained, wide continental areas could suddenly fragment, triggering extensive species loss and degradation of ecosystems services.

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“…A third possible mechanism is facilitation (Manor & Shnerb, 2008;Irvine et al, 2016): a patch surrounded by forest will have a smaller probability of being deforested or degraded than an isolated patch. The model of Scanlon et al (2007) showed an α = 1.34 which is different from our results (1.90 -2.01 range).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Power laws and critical fragmentation in global forests

Saravia

Doyle

Bond‐Lamberty

2016

Preprint

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1. Forests provide critical habitat for many species, essential ecosystem services, and are coupled to atmospheric dynamics through exchanges of energy, water and gases. One of the most important changes produced in the biosphere is the replacement of forest areas with human dominated landscapes.This usually leads to fragmentation, altering the sizes of patches, the structure and function of the forest. Here we studied the distribution and dynamics of forest patch sizes at a global level, examining signals of a critical transition from an unfragmented to a fragmented state.2. We used MODIS vegetation continuous field to estimate the forest patches at a global level and defined wide regions of connected forest across continents and big islands. We search for critical phase transitions, where the system state of the forest changes suddenly at a critical point in time; this implies an abrupt change in connectivity that causes an increased fragmentation level. We combined five criteria to evaluate the closeness of the system to a fragmentation threshold, studying in particular the distribution of forest patch sizes and the dynamics of the largest patch over the last sixteen years.3. We found some necessary evidence that allows us to analyze fragmentation as a critical transition: all regions followed a power-law distribution over the fifteen years. We also found that the Philippines region probably went through a critical transition from a fragmented to an unfragmented state.Neotropical regions with the highest deforestation rates-South America, Southeast Asia, Africa-all met the criteria to be near a critical fragmentation threshold. 1 4. This implies that human pressures and climate forcings might trigger undesired effects of fragmentation, such as species loss and degradation of ecosystems services, in these regions. The simple criteria proposed here could be used as an early warning to estimate the distance to a fragmentation threshold in forests around the globe.2

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Aggregation dynamics explain vegetation patch-size distributions

Cited by 11 publications

References 30 publications

Low genotypic diversity and long-term ecological decline in a spatially structured seagrass population

Low genotypic diversity and long-term ecological decline in a spatially structured seagrass population

Power laws and critical fragmentation in global forests

Power laws and critical fragmentation in global forests

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