Monodominance in tropical forests: modelling reveals emerging clusters and phase transitions
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In: Journal of the Royal Society Interface, Vol. 13, No. 117, 2016.0123, 01.04.2016.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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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 - Publisher Copyright: © 2016 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.
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
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84969930778&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/c774a757-0030-333a-a457-5e46e3d61432/
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 -