Modelling competitive interactions and plant–soil feedback in vegetation dynamics

Marasco, Addolorata; Giannino, Francesco; Iuorio, Annalisa

doi:10.1007/s11587-020-00497-6

Cited by 27 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…To gain a better understanding of how the inclusion of intraspecific competition dynamics in modelling frameworks governed by self‐organisation principles affects species coexistence, more information on these dynamics is needed. Promising first steps have been made through the explicit inclusion of (auto‐)toxicity effects on interacting plant species (Marasco et al 2020). A further potential shortfall of the model presented in this paper is that interspecific competition dynamics are restricted to competition for the limiting resource only.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species coexistence in resource‐limited patterned ecosystems is facilitated by the interplay of spatial self‐organisation and intraspecific competition

Eigentler

2021

Oikos

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The exploration of mechanisms that enable species coexistence under competition for a sole limiting resource is widespread across ecology. Two examples of such facilitative processes are intraspecific competition and spatial self-organisation. These processes determine the outcome of competitive dynamics in many resource-limited patterned ecosystems, classical examples of which include dryland vegetation patterns, intertidal mussel beds and subalpine ribbon forests. Previous theoretical investigations have explained coexistence within patterned ecosystems by making strong assumptions on the differences between species (e.g. contrasting dispersal behaviours or different functional responses to resource availability). In this paper, I show that the interplay between the detrimental effects of intraspecific competition and the facilitative nature of self-organisation forms a coexistence mechanism that does not rely on species-specific assumptions and captures coexistence across a wide range of the environmental stress gradient. I use a theoretical model that captures the interactions of two generic consumer species with an explicitly modelled resource to show that coexistence relies on a balance between species' colonisation abilities and their local competitiveness, provided intraspecific competition is sufficiently strong. Crucially, the requirements on species' self-limitation for coexistence to occur differ on opposite ends of the resource input spectrum. For low resource levels, coexistence is facilitated by strong intraspecific dynamics of the species superior in its colonisation abilities, but for larger volumes of resource input, strong intraspecific competition of the locally superior species enables coexistence. Results presented in this paper also highlight the importance of hysteresis in understanding tipping points, in particular extinction events. Finally, the theoretical framework provides insights into spatial species distributions within single patches, supporting verbal hypotheses on coexistence of herbaceous and woody species in dryland vegetation patterns and suggesting potential empirical tests in the context of other patterned ecosystems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species coexistence in resource‐limited patterned ecosystems is facilitated by the interplay of spatial self‐organisation and intraspecific competition

Eigentler

2021

Oikos

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“…To gain a better understanding of how the balance between intraspecific and interspecific competition enables species coexistence, more information on these dynamics is needed. Promising first steps have been made through the explicit inclusion of (auto-)toxicity effects on interacting plant species [16] which suggest potential avenues of further exploration in both the context of vegetation patterns and more general modelling frameworks for species coexistence in competition models.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species coexistence in resource-limited patterned ecosystems is facilitated by the interplay of spatial self-organisation and intraspecific competition

Eigentler

2020

Preprint

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The exploration of mechanisms that enable species coexistence under competition for a sole limiting resource is widespread across ecology. One classical example is the coexistence of herbaceous and woody species in self-organised dryland vegetation patterns. Previous theoretical investigations have explained this phenomenon by making strong assumptions on the differences between grasses and trees (e.g. contrasting dispersal behaviours or different functional responses to soil moisture). Motivated by classical theory on Lotka-Volterra competition models, I argue that the interplay between interspecific and intraspecific competition can explain species coexistence without relying on such assumptions. I use an ecohydrological reaction-advection-diffusion system that captures the interactions of two plant species with an explicitly modelled resource to show that coexistence is facilitated by strong intraspecific competition of the species superior in its colonisation abilities, if its competitor's local average fitness is higher. The inclusion of a spatial self-organisation principle yields significant differences from the nonspatial case in which strong intraspecific competition of the locally superior species enables coexistence. Results presented in this paper also capture the empirically observed spatial species distribution in single bands of vegetation and propose differences in plants' dispersal behaviour as its cause.

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“…A promising option is the explicit modelling of toxic soil compounds produced by plants which inhibit their growth [27]. The impact of toxicity on multispecies ecosystems has been shown to be significant even in the absence of competition for water [24] and thus forms a promising first step for a model extension that applies to dryland ecosystems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intraspecific competition in models for vegetation patterns: decrease in resilience to aridity and facilitation of species coexistence

Eigentler¹

2020

Preprint

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Patterned vegetation is a characteristic feature of many dryland ecosystems. While plant densities on the ecosystem-wide scale are typically low, a spatial self-organisation principle leads to the occurrence of alternating patches of high biomass and patches of bare soil. Nevertheless, intraspecific competition dynamics are commonly ignored in mathematical models for vegetation patterns. In this paper, I address the impact of intraspecific competition on a modelling framework for banded vegetation patterns. Firstly, I show that in the context of a single-species model, neglecting intraspecific competition leads to an overestimation of a patterned ecosystem's resilience to increases in aridity. Secondly, in the context of a multispecies model, I argue that intraspecific competition is a key element in the successful capture of species coexistence in model solutions representing a vegetation pattern. For both models, a detailed bifurcation analysis is presented to analyse the onset, existence and stability of patterns. Besides the intraspecific competition strengths, also the the difference between two species has a significant impact on the bifurcation structure, providing crucial insights into the complex ecosystem dynamics. Predictions on future ecosystem dynamics presented in this paper, especially on pattern onset and pattern stability, can aid the development of conservation programs.

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Modelling competitive interactions and plant–soil feedback in vegetation dynamics

Cited by 27 publications

References 34 publications

Species coexistence in resource‐limited patterned ecosystems is facilitated by the interplay of spatial self‐organisation and intraspecific competition

Species coexistence in resource‐limited patterned ecosystems is facilitated by the interplay of spatial self‐organisation and intraspecific competition

Species coexistence in resource-limited patterned ecosystems is facilitated by the interplay of spatial self-organisation and intraspecific competition

Intraspecific competition in models for vegetation patterns: decrease in resilience to aridity and facilitation of species coexistence

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