Article
Mathematics, Applied
Juan Liang, Chen Liu, Gui-Quan Sun, Li Li, Lai Zhang, Meiting Hou, Hao Wang, Zhen Wang
Summary: Vegetation pattern can serve as an early warning for desertification, and nonlocal interaction is a key mechanism for the formation of vegetation pattern.
APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTATION
(2022)
Article
Mathematics, Applied
David J. Lloyd
Summary: The study investigates hexagon fronts in the Swift-Hohenberg equation, revealing the phenomenon of homoclinic snaking where new hexagon cells are added to the core, leading to infinitely many coexisting localized states. In certain cases, defects in the cellular pattern may cause hexagon fronts to destabilize.
SIAM JOURNAL ON APPLIED DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Ilan Stavi, Eli Zaady, Alexander Gusarov, Hezi Yizhaq
Summary: A long-term drought in the semi-arid Israeli Negev has caused mass mortality of shrubs, impacting the ecosystem in unexpected ways. The study found that dead shrub patches had better soil quality and supported higher herbaceous vegetation growth despite lower soil moisture levels. The research highlights the complex and unpredictable impacts of prolonged droughts on dryland ecosystems.
JOURNAL OF GEOGRAPHICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Fahad Al Saadi, Pedro Parra-Rivas
Summary: Spatially extended patterns and multistability are common in ecosystems. Tristability between patterned and uniform states can have important impacts on dynamical behaviors. Using a simplified model, we study the organization of localized structures in tristable regimes. We find that the coexistence of localized spots and gaps leads to the emergence of hybrid states.
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Fahad Al Saadi, Annette Worthy, Haifaa Alrihieli, Mark Nelson
Summary: The paper systematically investigates the formation of localized structures in the Thomas model using modern ideas from the theory of dynamical systems. It reveals the significant changes in Turing instability at the degenerate points and the temporal stability of localized solutions depending on the presence of Hopf bifurcations and diffusion ratio.
MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTERS IN SIMULATION
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Xavier Rotllan-Puig, Eva Ivits, Michael Cherlet
Summary: The article introduces the UN Sustainable Development Goal 15 indicator 15.3.1, which is based on three sub-indicators: Trends in Land Cover, Land Productivity, and Carbon Stocks. Using the R-based tool LPDynR to implement the Land Productivity Dynamics approach can provide a 5-class map showing declining to increasing land productivity.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Lemin Wei, Wenzhi Zhao, Xiangyan Feng, Chuntan Han, Tao Li, Jinxian Qi, Yongyuan Li
Summary: Freeze-thaw desertification has significant impacts on the fragmentation, soil properties, and vegetation succession of alpine meadows, particularly in high elevations. Desertified patches lead to decreased soil water holding capacity and increased bulk density, causing the appearance of alpine desert steppe characteristics.
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Chen Liu, Fang-Guang Wang, Qiang Xue, Li Li, Zhen Wang
Summary: This paper investigates the influences of nonlocal effects and root hydrotropism on vegetation patterns. By establishing a reaction-diffusion equation with nonlocal time delay and root hydrotropism, the existence of global weak solution for the water-vegetation model is proven, and the Turing instability is analyzed to identify the criteria for the emergence of vegetation patterns. The research findings reveal the dual effects of root hydrotropism on vegetation patterns.
APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTATION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Vivian Dornelas, Eduardo H. Colombo, Cristobal Lopez, Emilio Hernandez-Garcia, Celia Anteneodo
Summary: The study analyzes the impact of disturbances in the ecological landscape on the spatial distribution of a population evolving according to the nonlocal FKPP equation. It characterizes the three types of stationary profiles that can develop near abrupt spatial variations in environmental conditions, and discusses how heterogeneities can reveal hidden information in a flat landscape through mapping between induced wrinkles and the shape of the interaction kernel.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Li Li, Jia-Hui Cao, Xin-Yue Bao
Summary: Regular pattern in vegetation distribution is crucial in desertification and environmental conservation studies. The saturated water absorption effect between soil water and vegetation plays a key role in semi-arid regions. The parameter 1/P has a significant impact on vegetation pattern formation, and appropriate precipitation can delay phase transition in vegetation patterns.
FRONTIERS IN PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Noredin Rostami, Haji Karimi, Mohsen Tavakoli, Reza Omidipour
Summary: The short-term effects of oil-mulch on vegetation cover and litter in arid regions were positive, leading to a decrease in bare soil area and an increase in rangeland condition score.
LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT
(2022)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Li Li, Fang-Guang Wang, Li-Feng Hou
Summary: In recent years, desertification has become increasingly serious due to abnormal global climate change. The study of vegetation patterns is helpful in understanding the causes of desertification. This research reveals the effects of vegetation hydrotropism on vegetation patterns in a vegetation-water system using reaction-diffusion equations. The findings show that not only does vegetation hydrotropism induce spatial pattern generation, but it also promotes vegetation growth in the area.
FRONTIERS IN PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Li Wang, Yanning Qiu, Zhiyong Han, Chi Xu, Shuang-Ye Wu, Yao Wang, Milena Holmgren, Zhiwei Xu
Summary: The study conducted a comprehensive analysis to investigate the effects of external factors on desert vegetation in the Tengger desert, one of the largest deserts in northern China. The results showed a consistent greening trend over the entire desert in the last forty years, with higher greening rates in sites with sand fixation and vegetation restoration practices. The greening trend of the entire desert is related to recent climate change and human efforts have accelerated the rate of vegetation recovery in restoration sites.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Kaipeng Xu, Yanyan Chi, Jingjing Wang, Rongfeng Ge, Xiahui Wang
Summary: The quality of the ecosystem in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has been improving, with natural vegetation slowly re-establishing and progressing towards climax communities. The change in ecosystem quality is positively correlated with the Sanbei shelterbelt and Beijing-Tianjin Sandstorm control project, and negatively correlated with socioeconomic and agricultural factors.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Dan Xiong, Cunzheng Wei, Xugao Wang, Xiaotao Lu, Shuai Fang, Yingbin Li, Xiaobo Wang, Wenju Liang, Xingguo Han, Thiemo Martijn Bezemer, Qi Li
Summary: This study investigated the spatial patterns and underlying mechanisms of beta-diversity in soil nematode communities along a 3,200-km transect. The results show that spatial variation in soil nematode communities is regulated by environmental processes at the vegetation type scale, while spatial processes mainly work on the regional scale, and emphasize that the spatial patterns and drivers of nematode beta-diversity differ among trophic levels.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Yuval Edri, Ehud Meron, Arik Yochelis
Article
Plant Sciences
Guy Dovrat, Ehud Meron, Moshe Shachak, Carly Golodets, Yagil Osem
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Omer Tzuk, Sangeeta Rani Ujjwal, Cristian Fernandez-Oto, Merav Seifan, Ehud Meron
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2019)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hezi Yizhaq, Moshe Shachak, Ehud Meron
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2020)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Omer Tzuk, Hannes Uecker, Ehud Meron
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Yuval Edri, Ehud Meron, Arik Yochelis
PHYSICA D-NONLINEAR PHENOMENA
(2020)
Review
Biology
Inderjit, Ragan M. Callaway, Ehud Meron
Summary: Vegetation patterning in water-limited and other resource-limited ecosystems emphasizes spatial self-organization processes as key drivers of community assembly. The roles of plant-soil-biota feedbacks and allelopathy in spatial self-organization have been overlooked, but they are crucial for understanding relationships between organisms and their abiotic environment. The integration of nonlinear physics and community ecology can generate a new hypothesis on how below-ground processes affect community assemblages through global and local spatial self-organization.
PHYSICS OF LIFE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Guy Dovrat, Ehud Meron, Moshe Shachak, Yosef Moshe, Yagil Osem
Summary: The study found a positive relationship between functional richness and species richness across a range of aridity levels in a semi-arid region, with differences observed among years and topographic sites. In relatively humid conditions, increasing aridity mainly resulted in the loss of functional redundancy, while in relatively dry conditions, increasing aridity led to more loss of functional richness than species richness. This indicates that different plant species respond differently to changes in aridity levels, with some species maintaining their existence by decreasing plant biomass production under extreme drought conditions.
JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS
(2021)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Yuval R. Zelnik, Yair Mau, Moshe Shachak, Ehud Meron
Summary: The article focuses on managing human intervention to achieve its goal without impairing ecosystem function by identifying inherent response ways of ecosystems to disturbances. The approach is demonstrated mathematically and compared to remote sensing data. The surprising insights include the beneficial effect of managing grazing non-uniformly and the need to identify self-organization modes that drive ecosystem change.
PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biology
Bidesh K. Bera, Omer Tzuk, Jamie J. R. Bennett, Ehud Meron
Summary: Shifts to drier climates can impose stress on plant communities, potentially leading to community reassembly and threats to ecosystem services, but may also trigger spatial self-organization of biota and resources to alleviate these stresses. The relationships between community reassembly and spatial self-organization have not been widely studied. Research shows that spatial patterns can reverse shifts in species composition and diversity loss, while spatial self-organization can buffer the impact of additional stress on community structure.
Editorial Material
Biology
Inderjit, Ragan M. Callaway, Ehud Meron
PHYSICS OF LIFE REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jamie J. R. Bennett, Anabele S. Gomes, Michel A. Ferre, Bidesh K. Bera, Fabian Borghetti, Ragan M. Callaway, Ehud Meron
Summary: Combining field studies and mathematical modeling, this research provides empirical evidence for the pattern-formation mechanism of the clonal shrub Guilandina bonduc L. on the Brazilian island of Trindade. The mechanism involves water conduction by laterally spread roots and root augmentation as the shoot grows, driving spatial patterning through a positive feedback loop. Guilandina expands into surrounding communities by decreasing the water potential in the soil, leaving behind a patchy landscape. This study highlights a novel invasion form that may apply to other pattern-forming invasive species.
Correction
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jamie J. R. Bennett, Anabele S. Gomes, Michel A. Ferre, Bidesh K. Bera, Fabian Borghetti, Ragan M. Callaway, Ehud Meron
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Olfa Jaibi, Arjen Doelman, Martina Chirilus-Bruckner, Ehud Meron
PHYSICA D-NONLINEAR PHENOMENA
(2020)
Article
Plant Sciences
Oskar Franklin, Sandy P. Harrison, Roderick Dewar, Caroline E. Farrior, Ake Braennstroem, Ulf Dieckmann, Stephan Pietsch, Daniel Falster, Wolfgang Cramer, Michel Loreau, Han Wang, Annikki Makela, Karin T. Rebel, Ehud Meron, Stanislaus J. Schymanski, Elena Rovenskaya, Benjamin D. Stocker, Soenke Zaehle, Stefano Manzoni, Marcel van Oijen, Ian J. Wright, Philippe Ciais, Peter M. van Bodegom, Josep Penuelas, Florian Hofhansl, Cesar Terrer, Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia, Guy Midgley, I. Colin Prentice