Stable Coexistence in a Field-Calibrated Individual-Based Model of Mangrove Forest Dynamics Caused by Inter-Specific Crown Plasticity

Abstract

(1,2) In this theoretical study, we apply MesoFON, a field-calibrated individual-based model of mangrove forest dynamics, and its Lotka–Volterra interpretations to address two questions: (a) Do the dynamics of two identical red mangrove species that compete for light resources and avoid inter-specific competition by lateral crown displacement follow the predictions of classical competition theory or resource competition theory? (b) Which mechanisms drive the dynamics in the presence of inter-specific crown plasticity when local competition is combined with global or with localized seed dispersal? (3) In qualitative support of classical competition theory, the two species can stably coexist within MesoFON. However, the total standing stock at equilibrium matched the carrying capacity of the single species. Therefore, a “non-overyielding” Lotka–Volterra model rather than the classic one approximated best the observed behavior. Mechanistically, inter-specific crown plasticity moved heterospecific trees apart and pushed conspecifics together. Despite local competition, the community exhibited mean-field dynamics with global dispersal. In comparison, localized dispersal slowed down the dynamics by diminishing the strength of intra-/inter-specific competition and their difference due to a restriction in the competitive race to the mean-field that prevails between conspecific clusters. (4) As the outcome in field-calibrated IBMs is mediated by the competition for resources, we conclude that classical competition mechanisms can override those of resource competition, and more species are likely to successfully coexist within communities.

Green Urban Scenarios: A Framework for Digital Twin Representation and Simulation for Urban Forests and Their Impact Analysis

“…This paper advances existing works on ecosystem growth models (e.g., Canham et al 1994;Berger and Hildenbrandt 2000;Bittebiere et al 2012;Zhang and DeAngelis 2020;Grueters et al 2021), by introducing a generic and modular framework that can be applied to various urban forests at different levels of granularity as well as further extended and integrated with other tools in the literature. It explicitly shares the position of Grueters et al (2021) that growth models should pay attention to spatial aspects and move from mean-field models to the granularity of individual trees.…”

“…This paper advances existing works on ecosystem growth models (e.g., Canham et al 1994;Berger and Hildenbrandt 2000;Bittebiere et al 2012;Zhang and DeAngelis 2020;Grueters et al 2021), by introducing a generic and modular framework that can be applied to various urban forests at different levels of granularity as well as further extended and integrated with other tools in the literature. It explicitly shares the position of Grueters et al (2021) that growth models should pay attention to spatial aspects and move from mean-field models to the granularity of individual trees. However, unlike Grueters et al (2021), which is specifically designed to study the growth dynamics of Mangrove forests, the model presented in this work can be used for any forest type with single or 1978), for testing new market mechanisms (Gode and Sunder 1993), for the role of green housing (Raberto et al 2019), or as a purely pedagogical device (Kirman 1993).…”

“…Models and software tools evaluating the ecosystem benefits of trees fall short because they are too general: they fail to include location and species-specific data (Zhang and DeAngelis 2020;Grueters et al 2021). In addition, they lack modularity and extensibility and cannot be fully interrogated as they lack sufficient transparency to be adopted by other practitioners and inherent feature of complex systems (Newman 2011).…”

“…It explicitly shares the position of Grueters et al (2021) that growth models should pay attention to spatial aspects and move from mean-field models to the granularity of individual trees. However, unlike Grueters et al (2021), which is specifically designed to study the growth dynamics of Mangrove forests, the model presented in this work can be used for any forest type with single or 1978), for testing new market mechanisms (Gode and Sunder 1993), for the role of green housing (Raberto et al 2019), or as a purely pedagogical device (Kirman 1993).…”

When nature needs a helping hand: Different levels of human intervention for mangrove (re-)establishment

“…In addition to these biotic factors, changes in sediment characteristics, such as increasing sediment organic matter content, i.e., "blue carbon" storage, salinity and N-or P-content, are sometimes also suitable indicators of successful mangrove re-establishment (Grueters et al, 2021). For example, in the mangrove system of the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, Colombia, which provides a model casestudy of mangrove rehabilitation for the Americas, increased salinity due to anthropogenic interference with the natural hydrological conditions was a major cause of mangrove mortality.…”