Observation and modelling of vegetation spirals and arcs in isotropic environmental conditions: dissipative structures in arid landscapes

We report for the first time on the formation of spirals like vegetation patterns in isotropic and uniform environmental conditions. The vegetation spirals are not waves and they do not rotate. They belong to the class of dissipative structures found out of equilibrium. Isolated or interacting spira...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences physical, and engineering sciences, 2018-12, Vol.376 (2135), p.20180026
Main Authors: Tlidi, M., Clerc, M. G., Escaff, D., Couteron, P., Messaoudi, M., Khaffou, M., Makhoute, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity
Biodiversity and Ecology
Botanics
Dissipative Structures
Ecology, environment
Ecosystems
Environmental Sciences
Life Sciences
Localized Patches
Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy
Vegetal Biology
Vegetation Patterns
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We report for the first time on the formation of spirals like vegetation patterns in isotropic and uniform environmental conditions. The vegetation spirals are not waves and they do not rotate. They belong to the class of dissipative structures found out of equilibrium. Isolated or interacting spirals and arcs observed in South America (Bolivia) and North Africa (Morocco) are interpreted as a result of curvature instability that affects the circular shape of localized patches. The biomass exhibits a dynamical behaviour with arcs that transform into spirals. Interpretation of observations and of the predictions provided by the theory is illustrated by recent measurements of peculiar plant morphology (the alfa plant, or Stipa tenacissima L.) originated from northwestern Africa and the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula. This article is part of the theme issue 'Dissipative structures in matter out of equilibrium: from chemistry, photonics and biology (part 2)'.
ISSN:1364-503X
1471-2962
DOI:10.1098/rsta.2018.0026