We present a mathematical analysis of the consequences of spatial interactions between vegetation patches by means of water flow for the functioning of arid systems. Our model results suggest that spatial exchange of water improved the resilience to disturbances and increased the resistance to human-induced loss of cover. Furthermore, spatial exchange of water allowed vegetation to persist at l...

Downed logs are known to increase species diversity in many forest ecosystems by increasing resource and structural complexity and by altering fire behavior in fire-prone ecosystems. In a frequently burned oak savanna in central Missouri, combustion of downed logs formed patches that have remained free of herbaceous vegetation for more than 3 years. To assess the influence of ‘‘log burnouts’’ o...

Based on complex network theory, we propose a computational methodology which addresses the spatial distribution of fuel breaks for the inhibition of the spread of wildland fires on heterogeneous landscapes. This is a two-level approach where the dynamics of fire spread are modeled as a random Markov field process on a directed network whose edge weights are determined by a Cellular Automata mo...

Posidonia oceanica meadows are ecosystem engineers which, despite their ecological relevance, experiencing habitat fragmentation and area decrease. Cartography information on the status of these habitats is key to an effective maritime spatial planning management for conservation. In this work we apply acoustic methodology map benthic (substrate vegetation) in archipelago Natura 2000 Network cl...

Question: How do patterns in colonization and patch expansion of an invasive woody plant (Larrea tridentata, Zygophyllaceae) differ between two grassland ecosystems at a biome transition zone? Location: Semi-arid/arid transition zone in central New Mexico. Methods: Frequency of occurrence, height, and surface area of saplings (n = 134) and patches of adult plants (n = 247) of the invasive shrub...

We compared the density and spatial distribution of four small mammal species (Microtus ochrogaster, Peromyscus maniculatus, Sigmodon hispidus, and P. leucopus) along with general measures of an old field plant community across two successional phases (1984–1986 and 1994–1996) of an experimental study of fragmentation in eastern Kansas. During the early phase the plant community was characteriz...

Using a spatially explicit mathematical model for water-limited vegetation we show that spatial instabilities of uniform states can lead to species coexistence under conditions where uniformly distributed species competitively exclude one another. Coexistence is made possible when water-rich patches formed by a pattern forming species provide habitats for a highly dispersive species that is a b...

The northern latitudes have warmed by about 0.8 C since the early 1970s, but not all areas have warmed equally. Eurasia shows an overall warming trend, while North America exhibits warming at a lower rate and even a slight cooling trend during the last 50 years in the Eastern USA. We analyzed a recently developed satellite normalized di erence vegetation index (NDVI) data set (July 1981 to Dece...

Several factors contribute to the extinction of populations in fragmented habitat but key ones include habitat loss and disruptions to connectivity. Aspects of the ecology of greater gliders (Petauroides volans), along with observations of their response to native forest clearance at a site in southeastern Australia, lead to the prediction in the 1960s that the species would not persist in the ...