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JenaTron - An Experimental Approach to Study the Effects of Plant History and Soil History on Grassland Ecosystem Functioning

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Local properties of patterned vegetation: quantifying endogenous and exogenous effects.

Gopal G Penny¹, Karen E Daniels², Sally E Thompson³

¹Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94710, USA. gopal@berkeley.edu

Philosophical Transactions. Series A, Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences

|January 30, 2014

Summary

Vegetation patterns in drylands, driven by water competition, show variable wavelengths and orientations. Local analysis reveals soil depth and water accumulation influence these patterns more than previously thought.

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Geomorphology
Remote Sensing

Background:

Dryland ecosystems often display periodic vegetation bands.
These patterns are hypothesized to result from plant competition for scarce, unevenly distributed water.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and apply a Fourier method for analyzing local vegetation pattern characteristics.
To investigate the drivers of variation in vegetation pattern wavelength and orientation in a Texas dryland region.

Main Methods:

A Fourier method was developed to identify local pattern wavenumber and orientation.
Aerial imagery from Fort Stockton, Texas, was analyzed using this method.
Ancillary soil and topographic data were integrated with pattern analysis.

Main Results:

Local vegetation pattern wavelength and orientation were found to be generally coherent but varied significantly.
Variations were linked to changes in hillslope gradient, orientation, water accumulation potential, and soil type.
Simulations of endogenous pattern dynamics under uniform conditions showed less variability than observed in natural systems.
A correlation between soil depth, pattern coherence, vegetation cover, and pattern wavelength was identified.

Conclusions:

Local pattern analysis, incorporating soil and topographic data, is crucial for understanding vegetation patterning.
Soil depth and water accumulation appear to be significant factors influencing vegetation pattern properties in drylands.
Observed pattern variability in nature exceeds predictions from models assuming homogeneous conditions.