TY - JOUR

T1 - Monodominance in tropical forests: modelling reveals emerging clusters and phase transitions

AU - Kazmierczak, Martin

AU - Backmann, Pia

AU - Fedriani, José M.

AU - Fischer, Rico

AU - Hartmann, Alexander K.

AU - Huth, Andreas

AU - May, Felix

AU - Müller, Michael S.

AU - Taubert, Franziska

AU - Grimm, Volker

AU - Groeneveld, Jürgen

N1 - © 2016 The Author(s).

PY - 2016/4/1

Y1 - 2016/4/1

N2 - Tropical forests are highly diverse ecosystems, but within such forests there can be large patches dominated by a single tree species. The myriad presumed mechanisms that lead to the emergence of such monodominant areas is currently the subject of intensive research. We used the most generic of these mechanisms, large seed mass and low dispersal ability of the monodominant species, in a spatially explicit model. The model represents seven identical species with long-distance dispersal of small seeds, competing with one potentially monodominant species with short-distance dispersal of large seeds. Monodominant patches emerged and persisted only for a narrow range of species traits; these results have the characteristic features of phase transitions. Additional mechanisms may explain monodominance in different ecological contexts, but our results suggest that percolation-like phenomena and phase transitions might be pervasive in this type of system.

AB - Tropical forests are highly diverse ecosystems, but within such forests there can be large patches dominated by a single tree species. The myriad presumed mechanisms that lead to the emergence of such monodominant areas is currently the subject of intensive research. We used the most generic of these mechanisms, large seed mass and low dispersal ability of the monodominant species, in a spatially explicit model. The model represents seven identical species with long-distance dispersal of small seeds, competing with one potentially monodominant species with short-distance dispersal of large seeds. Monodominant patches emerged and persisted only for a narrow range of species traits; these results have the characteristic features of phase transitions. Additional mechanisms may explain monodominance in different ecological contexts, but our results suggest that percolation-like phenomena and phase transitions might be pervasive in this type of system.

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - Environmental planning

U2 - 10.1098/rsif.2016.0123

DO - 10.1098/rsif.2016.0123

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 27053657

VL - 13

JO - Journal of the Royal Society Interface

JF - Journal of the Royal Society Interface

SN - 1742-5689

IS - 117

M1 - 2016.0123

ER -