Data from: Biotically driven vegetation mosaics in grazing ecosystems: the battle between bioturbation and biocompaction ...

• Main Authors: Howison, Ruth A., Olff, Han, Van De Koppel, Johan, Smit, Christian
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2017
• Subjects: grazing ecosystems; bistable states; water infiltration; soil amelioration; patch conversion; compaction; abiotic stress; nutrient availability; Arctic; Tundra
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3f2j7; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.3f2j7

Grazing ecosystems ranging from the arctic tundra to tropical savannas are often characterized by small-scale mosaics of herbivore-preferred and herbivore-avoided patches, promoting plant biodiversity and resilience. The three leading explanations for bistable patchiness in grazed ecosystems are: i) herbivore-driven nutrient cycling, ii) plant growth-water infiltration feedback under aridity, and iii) irreversible local herbivore-induced abiotic stress (topsoil erosion, salinity). However, these insufficiently explain the high temporal patch dynamics and wide-ranging distribution of grazing mosaics across productive habitats. Here we propose a fourth possibility where alternating patches are governed by the interplay of two important biotic processes: bioturbation by soil fauna that locally ameliorates soil conditions, promoting tall plant communities, alternating with biocompaction by large herbivores that locally impairs soil conditions, and promotes lawn communities. We review mechanisms that explain ... : Howison et al 2017 Bioturbation BiocompactionTITLE: Biotically driven vegetation mosaics in grazing ecosystems: the battle between bioturbation and biocompaction AUTHORS: Ruth A. Howison, Han Olff, Johan van de Koppel, and Christian Smit Corresponding author: Ruth A. Howison ([e-mail]) BifurcationModel.zip Bifurcation model resulting in figures 2 and 3, designed and written by Johan van de Koppel and Ruth Howison, using R. R Core Team (2015). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL https://www.R-project.org/. Phase planes depicting the bifurcation analysis of simple plant-herbivore models, showing the more classical A) Herbivore-plant quality feedback, and B) Water-infiltration feedback. Phase planes depicting the bifurcation analysis of plant-herbivore models with bioturbation, showing that the interplay between bioturbation and biocompaction strongly expands the conditions under which heterogeneity can persist in ...