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Hidalgo-Ogalde B, Pinto-Ramos D, Clerc MG, Tlidi M. Nonreciprocal feedback induces migrating oblique and horizontal banded vegetation patterns in hyperarid landscapes. Sci Rep 2024; 14:14635. [PMID: 38918448 PMCID: PMC11199605 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-63820-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 06/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/27/2024] Open
Abstract
In hyperarid environments, vegetation is highly fragmented, with plant populations exhibiting non-random biphasic structures where regions of high biomass density are separated by bare soil. In the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, rainfall is virtually nonexistent, but fog pushed in from the interior sustains patches of vegetation in a barren environment. Tillandsia landbeckii, a plant with no functional roots, survives entirely on fog corridors as a water source. Their origin is attributed to interaction feedback among the ecosystem agents, which have different spatial scales, ultimately generating banded patterns as a self-organising response to resource scarcity. The interaction feedback between the plants can be nonreciprocal due to the fact that the fog flows in a well-defined direction. Using remote sensing analysis and mathematical modelling, we characterise the orientation angle of banded vegetation patterns with respect to fog direction and topographic slope gradient. We show that banded vegetation patterns can be either oblique or horizontal to the fog flow rather than topography. The initial and boundary conditions determine the type of the pattern. The bifurcation diagram for both patterns is established. The theoretical predictions are in agreement with observations from remote sensing image analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Belén Hidalgo-Ogalde
- Departamento de Física and Millennium Institute for Research in Optics, FCFM, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 487-3, Santiago, Chile.
| | - David Pinto-Ramos
- Departamento de Física and Millennium Institute for Research in Optics, FCFM, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 487-3, Santiago, Chile
- Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS), Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Görlitz, Germany
| | - Marcel G Clerc
- Departamento de Física and Millennium Institute for Research in Optics, FCFM, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 487-3, Santiago, Chile
| | - Mustapha Tlidi
- Département de Physique, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B), CP 231, Campus Plaine, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
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Barnes RSK, Hamylton SM, Borburgh L. Microscale dispersion of intertidal seagrass macrofauna. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 196:106385. [PMID: 38309245 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 02/05/2024]
Abstract
Previous studies of dispersion of intertidal seagrass-associated macrobenthos in subtropical Moreton Bay, Queensland, showed that patchiness characterised its assemblage abundance with scale-invariant magnitude across areas ranging from >8000 to 0.1 m2. Those studies were here continued across the smaller scales (down to 0.014 m2) arguably more relevant to the dominant 2-10 mm long animals, using 16 replicate blocks of 5x5 contiguous 0.0024 m2 cores nested within the previously studied site. At microscales ≥0.09 m2, the earlier congruence of conclusions derived from patchiness indices and spatial autocorrelation broke down. At >0.014 m2, adjacent points (cores) no longer together formed larger spatial units of related abundance (i.e. showed no autocorrelation), but point abundances were still highly disparate (as reflected in patchiness indices). Congruent indications of patchiness only manifested at 0.014 m2 spatial scales. Assemblage dispersion pattern was partly consequent on one microgastropod (Pseudoliotia) occurring superabundantly in scattered 0.0024 m2 hotspots.
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Affiliation(s)
- R S K Barnes
- School of the Environment & Centre for Marine Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia; Department of Zoology & Conservation Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Sarah M Hamylton
- School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, 2522, Australia
| | - Liz Borburgh
- School of the Environment & Centre for Marine Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
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Liu K, Zhu L, Wei N, Li D. Underappreciated microplastic galaxy biases the filter-based quantification. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2024; 463:132897. [PMID: 37935065 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2023] [Revised: 10/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/28/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023]
Abstract
Long-term environmental loading of microplastics (MPs) causes alarming exposure risks for a variety of species worldwide, considered a planetary threat to the well-being of ecosystems. Robust quantitative estimates of MP extents and featured diversity are the basis for comprehending their environmental implications precisely, and of these methods, membrane-based characterizations predominate with respect to MP inspections. However, though crucial to filter-based MP quantification, aggregation statuses of retained MPs on these substrates remain poorly understood, leaving us a "blind box" that exaggerates uncertainty in quantitive strategies of preselected areas without knowing overview loading structure. To clarify this uncertainty and estimate their impacts on MP counting, using MP imaging data assembled from peer-reviewed studies through a systematic review, here we analyze the particle-specific profiles of MPs retained on various substrates according to their centre of mass with a fast-random forests algorithm. We visualize the formation of distinct galaxy-like MP aggregation-similar to the solar system and Milky Way System comprised of countless stars-across the pristine and environmental samples by leveraging two spatial parameters developed in this study. This unique pattern greatly challenges the homogeneously or randomly distributed MP presumption adopted extensively for simplified membrane-based quantification purposes and selective ROI (region of interest) estimates for smaller-sized plastics down to the nano-range, as well as the compatibility theory using pristine MPs as the standard to quantify the presence of environmental MPs. Furthermore, our evaluation with exemplified numeration cases confirms these location-specific and area-dependent biases in many imaging analyses of a selective filter area, ascribed to the minimum possibility of reaching an ideal turnover point for the selective quantitive strategies. Consequently, disproportionate MP schemes on loading substrates yield great uncertainty in their quantification processing, highlighting the prompt need to include pattern-resolved calibration prior to quantification. Our findings substantially advance our understanding of the structure, behavior, and formation of these MP aggregating statuses on filtering substrates, addressing a fundamental question puzzling scientists as to why reproducible MP quantification is barely achievable even for subsamples. This study inspires the following studies to reconsider the impacts of aggregating patterns on the effective counting protocols and target-specific removal of retained MP aggregates through membrane separation techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China.
| | - Lixin Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China; Marine and Environmental Sciences, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Nian Wei
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China; Norwegian Institute for Water Research, 94 Økernveien, Oslo 0579, Norway
| | - Daoji Li
- State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200241, China
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Temmink RJM, Angelini C, Verkuijl M, van der Heide T. Restoration ecology meets design-engineering: Mimicking emergent traits to restore feedback-driven ecosystems. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 902:166460. [PMID: 37611724 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Revised: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 08/18/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023]
Abstract
Ecosystems shaped by habitat-modifying organisms such as reefs, vegetated coastal systems and peatlands, provide valuable ecosystem services, such as carbon storage and coastal protection. However, they are declining worldwide. Ecosystem restoration is a key tool for mitigating these losses but has proven failure-prone, because ecosystem stability often hinges on self-facilitation generated by emergent traits from habitat modifiers. Emergent traits are not expressed by the single individual, but emerge at the level of an aggregation: a minimum patch-size or density-threshold must be exceeded to generate self-facilitation. Self-facilitation has been successfully harnessed for restoration by clumping transplanted organisms, but requires large amounts of often-limiting and costly donor material. Recent advancements highlight that kickstarting self-facilitation by mimicking emergent traits can similarly increase restoration success. Here, we provide a framework for combining expertise from ecologists, engineers and industrial product designers to transition from trial-and-error to emergent trait design-based, cost-efficient approaches to support large-scale restoration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ralph J M Temmink
- Environmental Sciences, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Princetonlaan 8a, 3584 CB Utrecht, the Netherlands.
| | - Christine Angelini
- Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, Engineering School for Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment, University of Florida, PO Box 116580, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Martijn Verkuijl
- Department of Industrial Design Engineering, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, Koestraat 3, 8011NG Zwolle, the Netherlands
| | - Tjisse van der Heide
- Department of Coastal Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 1790 AB Den Burg, the Netherlands; Conservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, 9700 CC Groningen, the Netherlands
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Zhang L, Shen C, Xue SJ, Xu C. From regular to irregular: Unveiling climate change imprints from vegetation patterns: Comment on "Impacts of climate change on vegetation pattern: Mathematical modelling and data analysis" by Sun et al. Phys Life Rev 2023; 44:119-121. [PMID: 36634558 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2022.12.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2022] [Accepted: 12/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Lai Zhang
- School of Mathematical Science, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225002, China.
| | - Cao Shen
- School of Mathematical Science, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225002, China
| | - Sheng-Jia Xue
- School of Mathematical Science, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225002, China
| | - Chi Xu
- School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
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Conservative or dissipative? Two distinct processes for spatial pattern emergence. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2221117120. [PMID: 36696441 PMCID: PMC9945989 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2221117120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
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Phase-separation physics underlies new theory for the resilience of patchy ecosystems. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2202683120. [PMID: 36595670 PMCID: PMC9926271 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2202683120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Spatial self-organization of ecosystems into large-scale (from micron to meters) patterns is an important phenomenon in ecology, enabling organisms to cope with harsh environmental conditions and buffering ecosystem degradation. Scale-dependent feedbacks provide the predominant conceptual framework for self-organized spatial patterns, explaining regular patterns observed in, e.g., arid ecosystems or mussel beds. Here, we highlight an alternative mechanism for self-organized patterns, based on the aggregation of a biotic or abiotic species, such as herbivores, sediment, or nutrients. Using a generalized mathematical model, we demonstrate that ecosystems with aggregation-driven patterns have fundamentally different dynamics and resilience properties than ecosystems with patterns that formed through scale-dependent feedbacks. Building on the physics theory for phase-separation dynamics, we show that patchy ecosystems with aggregation patterns are more vulnerable than systems with patterns formed through scale-dependent feedbacks, especially at small spatial scales. This is because local disturbances can trigger large-scale redistribution of resources, amplifying local degradation. Finally, we show that insights from physics, by providing mechanistic understanding of the initiation of aggregation patterns and their tendency to coarsen, provide a new indicator framework to signal proximity to ecological tipping points and subsequent ecosystem degradation for this class of patchy ecosystems.
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