Spatial Self-Organization of Ecosystems: Integrating Multiple Mechanisms of Regular-Pattern Formation

Author:

Pringle Robert M.1,Tarnita Corina E.1

Affiliation:

1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544;,

Abstract

Large-scale regular vegetation patterns are common in nature, but their causes are disputed. Whereas recent theory focuses on scale-dependent feedbacks as a potentially universal mechanism, earlier studies suggest that many regular spatial patterns result from territorial interference competition between colonies of social-insect ecosystem engineers, leading to hexagonally overdispersed nest sites and associated vegetation. Evidence for this latter mechanism is scattered throughout decades of disparate literature and lacks a unified conceptual framework, fueling skepticism about its generality in debates over the origins of patterned landscapes. We review these mechanisms and debates, finding evidence that spotted and gapped vegetation patterns generated by ants, termites, and other subterranean animals are globally widespread, locally important for ecosystem functioning, and consistent with models of intraspecific territoriality. Because these and other mechanisms of regular-pattern formation are not mutually exclusive and can coexist and interact at different scales, the prevailing theoretical outlook on spatial self-organization in ecology must expand to incorporate the dynamic interplay of multiple processes.

Publisher

Annual Reviews

Subject

Insect Science,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

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