Robust scaling in ecosystems and the meltdown of patch size distributions before extinction
Langue
en
Article de revue
Ce document a été publié dans
Ecology Letters. 2011-01, vol. 14, n° 1, p. 29 - 35
Wiley
Résumé en anglais
Robust critical systems are characterized by power laws which occur over a broad range of conditions. Their robust behaviour has been explained by local interactions. While such systems could be widespread in nature, their ...Lire la suite >
Robust critical systems are characterized by power laws which occur over a broad range of conditions. Their robust behaviour has been explained by local interactions. While such systems could be widespread in nature, their properties are not well understood. Here, we study three robust critical ecosystem models and a null model that lacks spatial interactions. In all these models, individuals aggregate in patches whose size distributions follow power laws which melt down under increasing external stress. We propose that this power-law decay associated with the connectivity of the system can be used to evaluate the level of stress exerted on the ecosystem. We identify several indicators along the transition to extinction. These indicators give us a relative measure of the distance to extinction, and have therefore potential application to conservation biology, especially for ecosystems with self-organization and critical transitions.< Réduire
Mots clés
INDICATORS OF TRANSITIONS
LOCAL INTERACTIONS
LOI DE PUISSANCE
ROBUSTE
INDICATEUR DE TRANSITION
Mots clés en anglais
DEVIATIONS FROM POWER LAWS
PATCH SIZE DISTRIBUTION
POWER LAW
POWER LAW WITH AN EXPONENTIAL CUTOFF
ROBUST CRITICALITY
SCALING
SPATIAL PATTERNS
TRUNCATED POWER LAW
Origine
Importé de halUnités de recherche