Catastrophic vegetation shifts and soil degradation in terrestrial grazing systems

It has long been recognized that alternative vegetation states may occur in terrestrial grazing systems. This phenomenon may be of great importance as small environmental fluctuations may lead to relatively sudden and irreversible jumps between vegetation states. Early theoretical studies emphasized...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in Ecology & Evolution
Main Authors: van de Koppel, J, Rietkerk, M, Weissing, FJ
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 1997
Subjects:
FUNCTIONAL-RESPONSE
RANGE CONDITION
SALINITY
THRESHOLDS
STABILITY
VIEWPOINT
RHODESIA
ECOLOGY
MOSAICS
DROUGHT
Arctic
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/11370/b831e9fb-1770-4efb-9ecf-1dd4f5d9f061
https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/b831e9fb-1770-4efb-9ecf-1dd4f5d9f061
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-5347(97)01133-6
https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/9934672/1997TrendsEcolEvolvdKoppel.pdf
Description
Summary:It has long been recognized that alternative vegetation states may occur in terrestrial grazing systems. This phenomenon may be of great importance as small environmental fluctuations may lead to relatively sudden and irreversible jumps between vegetation states. Early theoretical studies emphasized saturation of herbivore feeding to explain multiple stable states and catastrophic behaviour. Recent studies on semi-arid grasslands and arctic salt marshes, however, relate catastrophic events In these systems to plant-soil interactions.

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