Vegetation cover reveals the phase diagram of patch patterns in drylands

Author(s)

Meloni, Fernando ^{[1, 2]} ; Nakamura, Gilberto M. ^{[1, 2]} ; Granzotti, Cristiano R. F. ^[1] ; Martinez, Alexandre S. ^{[1, 2]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, FFCLRP, Ave Bandeirantes 3900, BR-14040901 Ribeirao Preto - Brazil

^[2] Inst Nacl Ciencia & Tecnol Sistemas Complexos, Rio De Janeiro - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: PHYSICA A-STATISTICAL MECHANICS AND ITS APPLICATIONS; v. 534, NOV 15 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

Drylands are ecosystems with limited water resources, often subjected to desertification. Conservation and restoration efforts towards these ecosystems depend on the interplay between ecological functioning and spatial patterns formed by local vegetation. Despite recent advances on the subject, an adequate description of phase transitions between the various vegetated phases remains an open issue. Here, we gather vegetation data of drylands from Southern Spain using satellite images. Our findings support three vegetated phases, separated by two distinct phase transitions, including a continuous one, with new relations between scaling exponents of ecological variables. The phase diagram is obtained without a priori assumption about underlying ecological dynamics. We apply our analysis to a different dryland system in the Western United States and verify a compatible critical behavior, in agreement with the universality hypothesis. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/06196-4 - Study of edaphic and epigeic communities as self-organized complex systems
• Grantee: Fernando Meloni
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 14/00631-3 - Organizational general patterns of edaphic-epigeic community and the evaluation of its indicator value to prevent catastrophic shifts in Mediterranean drylands under desertification
• Grantee: Fernando Meloni
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor