title: Localized structures in dissipative media: from optics to plant ecology.
abstract: Localized structures (LSs) in dissipative media appear in various fields of natural science such as biology, chemistry, plant ecology, optics and laser physics. The proposal for this Theme Issue was to gather specialists from various fields of nonlinear science towards a cross-fertilization among active areas of research. This is a cross-disciplinary area of research dominated by nonlinear optics due to potential applications for all-optical control of light, optical storage and information processing. This Theme Issue contains contributions from 18 active groups involved in the LS field and have all made significant contributions in recent years.
authors.affiliation: Départment de Physique, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), CP 231, Campus Plaine, Bruxelles 1050, Belgium mtlidi@ulb.ac.be.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tlidi
authors.affiliation: Departament de Física i Enginyeria Nuclear, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Colom 11, Terrassa 08222 (Barcelona), Spain.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Staliunas
authors.affiliation: Brussels Photonics Team, Department of Applied Physics and Photonics (B-PHOT TONA), Vrije Unversiteit Brussels, Pleinlaan 2, Brussels 1050, Belgium Institute of Solid State Physics, 72 Tzarigradsko Chaussee Boulevard, Sofia 1784, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Panajotov
authors.affiliation: Weierstrass Institute, Mohrenstrasse 39, Berlin 10117, Germany.
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Vladimirov
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física, FCFM, Universidad de Chile, Blanco Encalada 2008, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Clerc
keywords: cavity solitons; dissipative solitons; nonlinear optics; plant ecology; semiconductor laser; vegetation pattern