Resource availability and heterogeneity shape the self‐organisation of regular spatial patterning

Vardaro, Jessica A. Castillo; Bonachela, Juan A.; Baker, Christopher C. M.; Pinsky, Malin L.; Doak, Daniel F.; Pringle, Robert M.; Tarnita, Corina E.

doi:10.1111/ele.13822

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…A final conclusion of our study is that fungus‐farming termites play a vital role in governing savanna dynamics by creating spatial heterogeneity that serves as a template for niche differentiation in plants and animals. The published literature on termites as ecosystem engineers in savannas attests to their role in sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem functions (Castillo Vardaro et al, 2021; Joseph et al, 2011, 2013; Pringle et al, 2010). That they may also help to anchor the two defining attributes of African savannas—tree‐grass coexistence (please refer to Appendix S1: Figure S1) and ungulate coexistence—is an intriguing prospect that warrants further investigation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Still, risk avoidance and favorable microclimate are not mutually exclusive with high resource availability, and all three factors may contribute to explaining mound use by savanna ungulates. Future work aimed at parsing these potentially complementary mechanisms would enrich our understanding of the ways in which termites shape patterns of biodiversity, animal behavior, and ecosystem function in savannas (Castillo Vardaro et al, 2021; Pringle et al, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Allometry of behavior and niche differentiation among congeneric African antelopes

Daskin

Becker

Kartzinel

et al. 2022

Ecological Monographs

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Size‐structured differences in resource use stabilize species coexistence in animal communities, but what behavioral mechanisms underpin these niche differences? Behavior is constrained by morphological and physiological traits that scale allometrically with body size, yet the degree to which behaviors exhibit allometric scaling remains unclear; empirical datasets often encompass broad variation in environmental context and phylogenetic history, which complicates the detection and interpretation of scaling relationships between size and behavior. We studied the movement and foraging behaviors of three sympatric, congeneric spiral‐horned antelope species (Tragelaphus spp.) that differ in body mass—bushbuck (26–40 kg), nyala (57–83 kg), and kudu (80–142 kg)—in an African savanna ecosystem where (i) food was patchily distributed due to ecosystem engineering by fungus‐farming termites and (ii) predation risk was low due to the extirpation of several large carnivores. Because foraging behavior is directly linked to traits that scale allometrically with size (e.g., metabolic rate, locomotion), we hypothesized that habitat use and diet selection would likewise exhibit nonlinear scaling relationships. All three antelope species selected habitat near termitaria, which are hotspots of abundant, high‐quality forage. Experimental removal of forage from termite mounds sharply reduced use of those mounds by bushbuck, confirming that habitat selection was resource driven. Strength of selection for termite mounds scaled negatively and nonlinearly with body mass, as did recursion (frequency with which individuals revisited locations), whereas home‐range area and mean step length scaled positively and nonlinearly with body mass. All species disproportionately ate mound‐associated plant taxa; nonetheless, forage selectivity and dietary composition, richness, and quality all differed among species, reflecting the partitioning of shared food resources. Dietary protein exhibited the theoretically predicted negative allometric relationship with body mass, whereas digestible‐energy content scaled positively. Our results demonstrate cryptic size‐based separation along spatial and dietary niche axes—despite superficial similarities among species—consistent with the idea that body‐size differentiation is driven by selection for divergent resource‐acquisition strategies, which in turn underpin coexistence. Foraging and space‐use behaviors were nonlinearly related to body mass, supporting the hypothesis that behavior scales allometrically with size. However, explaining the variable functional forms of these relationships is a challenge for future research.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Allometry of behavior and niche differentiation among congeneric African antelopes

Daskin

Becker

Kartzinel

et al. 2022

Ecological Monographs

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“…A wide variety of ecosystems form spatially regular patterns, as has been observed in the past decades in arid vegetation ( 1 – 4 ), peatlands ( 5 , 6 ), mussel beds ( 7 – 9 ), and salt marsh ecosystems ( 10 – 12 ). The patterns are explained by a self-organization process, where patterns develop through the interactions between organisms and their environments, e.g., salt marsh vegetation locally influencing hydrodynamic forces and sedimentation, leading to the formation of clustered patterning of vegetation with power-law–like patch-size distributions ( 10 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Self-organized mud cracking amplifies the resilience of an iconic “Red Beach” salt marsh

Zhang

Yan

et al. 2023

Sci. Adv.

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Self-organized patterning, resulting from the interplay of biological and physical processes, is widespread in nature. Studies have suggested that biologically triggered self-organization can amplify ecosystem resilience. However, if purely physical forms of self-organization play a similar role remains unknown. Desiccation soil cracking is a typical physical form of self-organization in coastal salt marshes and other ecosystems. Here, we show that physically self-organized mud cracking was an important facilitating process for the establishment of seepweeds in a “Red Beach” salt marsh in China. Transient mud cracks can promote plant survivorship by trapping seeds, and enhance germination and growth by increasing water infiltration in the soil, thus facilitating the formation of a persistent salt marsh landscape. Cracks can help the salt marsh withstand more intense droughts, leading to postponed collapse and faster recovery. These are indications of enhanced resilience. Our work highlights that self-organized landscapes sculpted by physical agents can play a critical role in ecosystem dynamics and resilience to climate change.

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“…These include non-regular patterns generated by self-propelling disturbances ( 23 ), or patterns of coexisting patches resulting from positive feedback processes ( 11 ). Non-regular patterns have for instance been found of in grazing systems ( 24 – 28 ), biogeomorphological systems ( 29 – 33 ), such as seagrass beds and dune fields, and nutrient-poor systems ( 34 – 39 ), such as peatlands, meaning that the leading indicator framework does not apply to an important group of patchy ecosystems.…”

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confidence: 99%

Phase-separation physics underlies new theory for the resilience of patchy ecosystems

Siteur

Liu

Rottschäfer

et al. 2023

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Spatial self-organization of ecosystems into large-scale (from micron to meters) patterns is an important phenomenon in ecology, enabling organisms to cope with harsh environmental conditions and buffering ecosystem degradation. Scale-dependent feedbacks provide the predominant conceptual framework for self-organized spatial patterns, explaining regular patterns observed in, e.g., arid ecosystems or mussel beds. Here, we highlight an alternative mechanism for self-organized patterns, based on the aggregation of a biotic or abiotic species, such as herbivores, sediment, or nutrients. Using a generalized mathematical model, we demonstrate that ecosystems with aggregation-driven patterns have fundamentally different dynamics and resilience properties than ecosystems with patterns that formed through scale-dependent feedbacks. Building on the physics theory for phase-separation dynamics, we show that patchy ecosystems with aggregation patterns are more vulnerable than systems with patterns formed through scale-dependent feedbacks, especially at small spatial scales. This is because local disturbances can trigger large-scale redistribution of resources, amplifying local degradation. Finally, we show that insights from physics, by providing mechanistic understanding of the initiation of aggregation patterns and their tendency to coarsen, provide a new indicator framework to signal proximity to ecological tipping points and subsequent ecosystem degradation for this class of patchy ecosystems.

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Resource availability and heterogeneity shape the self‐organisation of regular spatial patterning

Cited by 12 publications

References 62 publications

Allometry of behavior and niche differentiation among congeneric African antelopes

Allometry of behavior and niche differentiation among congeneric African antelopes

Self-organized mud cracking amplifies the resilience of an iconic “Red Beach” salt marsh

Phase-separation physics underlies new theory for the resilience of patchy ecosystems

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