global biogeography of semi-arid periodic vegetation patterns

• Published in: Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters Vol. 17; no. 6; pp. 715 - 723
• Main Authors: Deblauwe, Vincent, Barbier, Nicolas, Couteron, Pierre, Lejeune, Olivier, Bogaert, Jan
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2008; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Blackwell Publishing; Blackwell; Wiley
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Aridity; banded vegetation; bioclimatic envelope; Biogeography; Biological and medical sciences; Climatology. Bioclimatology. Climate change; Earth, ocean, space; Ecological modeling; Ecosystems; Environmental sciences & ecology; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; hierarchical partitioning; Life Sciences; maximum entropy; Meteorology; Modeling; periodic vegetation pattern; Precipitation; Rain; Sciences de l’environnement & écologie; Sciences du vivant; self-organization; Shrubs; Soil temperature regimes; Synecology; Temperature distribution; tiger bush; Vegetal Biology; Vegetation; Fissipedia; Carnivora; Panthera tigris; Organization; self-organization; Arid environment; Biogeography; maximum entropy; periodic vegetation pattern; bioclimatic envelope; tiger bush; Ecology; Bioclimate; banded vegetation; Vertebrata; Mammalia; hierarchical partitioning; Semi arid zone; Aridity; Vegetation; Bioclimatic envelope; Banded vegetation; Periodic vegetation pattern; Tiger bush; Maximum entropy; Hierarchical partitioning; Self-organization
• ISSN: 1466-822X; 0960-7447; 1466-8238; 1466-8238; 1466-822X
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2008.00413.x

Vegetation exhibiting landscape-scale regular spatial patterns has been reported for arid and semi-arid areas world-wide. Recent theories state that such structures are bound to low-productivity environments and result from a self-organization process. Our objective was to test this relationship between periodic pattern occurrence and environmental factors at a global scale and to parametrize a predictive distribution model. Arid and semi-arid areas world-wide. We trained an empirical predictive model (Maxent) for the occurrence of periodic vegetation patterns, based on environmental predictors and known occurrences verified on Landsat satellite images. This model allowed us to discover previously unreported pattern locations, and to report the first ever examples of spotted patterns in natural systems. Relationships to the main environmental drivers are discussed. These results confirm that periodic patterned vegetations are ubiquitous at the interface between arid and semi-arid regions. Self-organized patterning appears therefore to be a biome-scale response to environmental conditions, including soil and topography. The set of correlations between vegetation patterns and their environmental conditions presented in this study will need to be reproduced in future modelling attempts.