10.5061/DRYAD.857
Thompson, Sally
Daniels, Karen E.
Data from: A porous convection model for small-scale grass patterns
Dryad
dataset
2009
Ecology: spatial
Pattern formation
2009-08-17T13:18:45Z
2009-08-17T13:18:45Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1086/648603
19684839 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Spatial ecological patterns are usually ascribed to Turing‐type
reaction‐diffusion or scale‐dependent feedback processes, but
morphologically indistinguishable patterns can be produced by
instabilities in fluid flow. We present a new hypothesis that suggests
that fluid convection and chill damage to plants could form vegetation
patterns with wavelengths ≈1–2 times the plant height. Previous hypotheses
for small‐scale vegetation pattern formation relied on a Turing process
driven by competition for water, which is thought to occur in large
vegetation patterns. Predictions of the new hypothesis were consistent
with properties of natural grass patterns in North Carolina, contradicting
the Turing hypothesis. These results indicate that similarities in pattern
morphology should not be interpreted as implying similarities in the
pattern‐forming processes, that small‐wavelength vegetation patterns may
arise from mechanisms that are distinct from those generating
long‐wavelength vegetation patterns, and that fluid instabilities should
be recognized as a cause of ecological patterns.
Grass_Photos.zipThese are a set of original images of grass lawn patterns
observed at Duke University, North Carolina, November 2008, approximately
2 days after a frost. Four of these images show transects and patches of
the lawn where soil moisture measurements were taken. These measurements
are described in the excel file. This excel file also includes the
appropriate scaling conversions (from pixels to cm) that can be used to
make quantitative measurements on the images.
Durham North Carolina