title: Self-organized dynamics in spatially structured populations.
abstract: Self-organization and pattern formation represent the emergence of order in temporal and spatial processes. Self-organization in population ecology is gaining attention due to the recent advances concerning temporal fluctuations in the population size of dispersal-linked subunits. We shall report that spatially structured models of population renewal promote the emergence of a complex power law order in spatial population dynamics. We analyse a variety of population models showing that self-organization can be identified as a temporal match in population dynamics among local units, and how the synchrony changes in time. Our theoretical results are concordant with analyses of population data on the Canada lynx.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35, FIN-40351 Jyväskylä, Finland. vkaitala@cc.jyu.fi
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kaitala
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ranta
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lundberg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002335:Carnivora / Q000502:physiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D013997:Time Factors