Localized vegetation patches: a self-organized response to resource scarcity.
We show that spatial self-organization allows vegetation to survive greater resource limitation. Isolated vegetation patches observed in nutrient-poor territories of South America and West Africa are interpreted as localized structures arising from the bistability between the bare state and the patchy vegetation state.
Lejeune
O
O
Faculté des Sciences, Code Postal 231, Université Libre de Bruxelles, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium.
Tlidi
M
M
Couteron
P
P
D000354:Africa, Western; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D008954:Models, Biological; D063245:Plant Development; D013020:South America