New forms of structure in ecosystems revealed with the Kuramoto model

Vandermeer, John; Hajian‐Forooshani, Zachary; Medina, Nicholas; Perfecto, Ivette

doi:10.1098/rsos.210122

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…The second set of concerns relate to changes in data analysis, from new empirical or existing model outputs. We have already suggested some relatively unique approaches above, including changing model structural units from one-dimensional to twovariable oscillator units (Kuramoto and Nakao, 2019;Vandermeer et al, 2021), and can add here the study of geometric variation in hysteresis curves, such as from soil water (Mascaro and Vivoni, 2016;Zhao et al, 2020) or similarly in model structure, predator-mediated decomposition (Ong and Vandermeer, 2018). However, there can also be some ways to uncover patterns common to complex systems such as soils by modifying existing approaches.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing systems theory in soil agroecology: incorporating heterogeneity and dynamic instability

Medina,

Vandermeer

2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Soils are increasingly acknowledged as complex systems, with potential non-linear behaviors having important implications for ecosystem and Earth system dynamics, but soil models could improve adoption of analytical tools from the broader interdisciplinary field of complex systems. First- and new-generation soil models formulate many soil pools using first-order decomposition, which tends to generate simpler yet numerous parameters. Systems or complexity theory, developed across various scientific and social fields, may help improve robustness of soil models, by offering consistent assumptions about system openness, potential dynamic instability and distance from commonly assumed stable equilibria, as well as new analytical tools for formulating more generalized model structures that reduce parameter space and yield a wider array of possible model outcomes, such as quickly shrinking carbon stocks with pulsing or lagged respiration. This paper builds on recent perspectives of soil modeling to ask how various soil functions can be better understood by applying a complex systems lens. We synthesized previous literature reviews with concepts from non-linear dynamical systems in theoretical ecology and soil sciences more broadly to identify areas for further study that may help improve the robustness of soil models under the uncertainty of human activities and management. Three broad dynamical concepts were highlighted: soil variable memory or state-dependence, oscillations, and tipping points with hysteresis. These themes represent possible dynamics resulting from existing observations, such as reversibility of organo-mineral associations, dynamic aggregate- and pore hierarchies, persistent wet-dry cycles, higher-order microbial community and predator-prey interactions, cumulative legacy land use history, and social management interactions and/or cooperation. We discuss how these aspects may contribute useful analytical tools, metrics, and frameworks that help integrate the uncertainties in future soil states, ranging from micro-to regional scales. Overall, this study highlights the potential benefits of incorporating spatial heterogeneity and dynamic instabilities into future model representations of whole soil processes, and contributes to the field as a modern synthetic review that connects existing similar ideas across disciplines and highlights their implications for future work and potential findings. Additionally, it advocates for transdisciplinary collaborations between natural and social scientists, extending research into anthropedology and biogeosociochemistry.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing systems theory in soil agroecology: incorporating heterogeneity and dynamic instability

Medina,

Vandermeer

2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…The main feature of the Kuramoto model, which makes it paradigmatic for a large class of phenomena [55][56][57][58][59], is its capacity to produce the spontaneous synchronization of a population of incoherent oscillators provided that a critical value K C of the coupling is exceeded. In fact, for small values of K, the oscillators act as if they were uncoupled and each oscillator tends to run independently and incoherently with its own frequency.…”

Section: The Kuramoto Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonextensive Footprints in Dissipative and Conservative Dynamical Systems

et al. 2023

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Despite its centennial successes in describing physical systems at thermal equilibrium, Boltzmann–Gibbs (BG) statistical mechanics have exhibited, in the last several decades, several flaws in addressing out-of-equilibrium dynamics of many nonlinear complex systems. In such circumstances, it has been shown that an appropriate generalization of the BG theory, known as nonextensive statistical mechanics and based on nonadditive entropies, is able to satisfactorily handle wide classes of anomalous emerging features and violations of standard equilibrium prescriptions, such as ergodicity, mixing, breakdown of the symmetry of homogeneous occupancy of phase space, and related features. In the present study, we review various important results of nonextensive statistical mechanics for dissipative and conservative dynamical systems. In particular, we discuss applications to both discrete-time systems with a few degrees of freedom and continuous-time ones with many degrees of freedom, as well as to asymptotically scale-free networks and systems with diverse dimensionalities and ranges of interactions, of either classical or quantum nature.

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“…From its most basic form (the cell) to the most complex form (the whole organism), the presence of biological oscillators is notable [4]. Even at the level of the species, the relationship between prey and predator can be described as an oscillatory system [5] [6]. Cell cycles, sleep-wake cycles, and hormonal cycles are just a few of many examples.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aging and Biological Oscillation: A Question of Geometry

Barragán¹,

Sánchez²

2023

AAR

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Previous studies in different ethnic groups show changes in heart rate, respiratory rate, cortisol cycle, and sleep-wake cycle throughout life. Our purpose is to verify such changes by comparing the values of each variable before and after puberty. Puberty is associated with the end of growth and is an important point in our theoretical framework: when growth ends, changes occur in the geometry of the biological system. At the same time, this causes phase changes in the oscillatory variables, which are seen as chronodisruption. The results confirm the changes found by other authors in the evolution of the variables throughout life. Then, we can conclude that the variables studied present phase changes when growth ends, in accordance with the proposed theoretical framework.

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New forms of structure in ecosystems revealed with the Kuramoto model

Cited by 10 publications

References 60 publications

Developing systems theory in soil agroecology: incorporating heterogeneity and dynamic instability

Developing systems theory in soil agroecology: incorporating heterogeneity and dynamic instability

Nonextensive Footprints in Dissipative and Conservative Dynamical Systems

Aging and Biological Oscillation: A Question of Geometry

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