Showing papers by "Donald L. DeAngelis published in 2012"
TL;DR: It is shown that increasing diffusion rates of vegetation can lead to shrinkage of the range between the two bifurcation points, and that a simple pulse disturbance would not be sufficient; the salinity would have to be held at a high level, as a 'press', for some time.
42 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a spatially explicit individual-based model of vegetation, coupled with a model of soil hydrology and salinity dynamics is presented to simulate mangrove/hammock ecotones in the coastal margin habitats of South Florida.
Abstract: Coastal vegetation of South Florida typically comprises salinity-tolerant mangroves bordering salinity-intolerant hardwood hammocks and fresh water marshes. Two primary ecological factors appear to influence the maintenance of mangrove/hammock ecotones against changes that might occur due to disturbances. One of these is a gradient in one or more environmental factors. The other is the action of positive feedback mechanisms, in which each vegetation community influences its local environment to favor itself, reinforcing the boundary between communities. The relative contributions of these two factors, however, can be hard to discern. A spatially explicit individual-based model of vegetation, coupled with a model of soil hydrology and salinity dynamics is presented here to simulate mangrove/hammock ecotones in the coastal margin habitats of South Florida. The model simulation results indicate that an environmental gradient of salinity, caused by tidal flux, is the key factor separating vegetation communities, while positive feedback involving the different interaction of each vegetation type with the vadose zone salinity increases the sharpness of boundaries, and maintains the ecological resilience of mangrove/hammock ecotones against small disturbances. Investigation of effects of precipitation on positive feedback indicates that the dry season, with its low precipitation, is the period of strongest positive feedback.
38 citations
TL;DR: Using dynamical systems theory, mechanisms of species coexistence are investigated to show how a robber could invade the plant–pollinator system and persist stably with the pollinator.
23 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, two models were integrated in order to study the effect of plant toxicity and a trophic cascade on forest succession and fire patterns across a boreal landscape in central Alaska.
14 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that the parasitism at high density promotes stability of the system, and the mechanisms by which the mutualism improves the coexistence of the species and production of the prey are presented.
Abstract: A mutualism-parasitism system of two species is considered, where mutualism is the dominant interaction when the predators (parasites) are at low density while parasitism is dominant when the predators are at high density. Our aim is to show that mutualism at low density promotes coexistence of the species and leads to high production of the prey (host). The mutualism-parasitism system presented here is a combination of the Lotka-Volterra cooperative model and Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model. By comparing dynamics of this system with those of the Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model, we present the mechanisms by which the mutualism improves the coexistence of the species and production of the prey. Then the parameter space is divided into six regions, which correspond to the four outcomes of mutualism, commensalism, predation/parasitism and neutralism, respectively. When the parameters are varied continuously among the six regions, it is shown that the interaction outcomes of the system transition smoothly among the four outcomes. By comparing the dynamics of the specific system with those of the Lotka-Volterra cooperative model, we show that the parasitism at high density promotes stability of the system. A novel aspect of this paper is the simplicity of the model, which allows rigorous and thorough analysis and transparency of the results.
13 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors emphasize that these two types of patterns, sharp ecotones between vegetation types and large-scale landscape patterns of vegetation, both have a common basis in the concept of bistability, in which alternative stable states can occur on an area of land.
Abstract: Environmental conditions influence the way different types of vegetation are distributed on various scales from the landscape to the globe. However, vegetation does not simply respond passively but may influence its environment in ways that shape those distributions. On the landscape scale, feedbacks from vegetation can lead to patterns that are not easily interpreted as merely reflecting external abiotic conditions. For example, sharp ecotones exist between two vegetation types, even if the basic abiotic gradient is slight, somewhere along the gradient. These are observed in transitions between numerous pairs of ecosystem types, such as tree/grassland, tree/mire, tree tundra, and halophytic plants/glycophytic plants. More complex spatial vegetation patterns may also exist, such as alternating stripes or irregular patterns of either two types of vegetation or vegetation and bare soil. One purpose of this paper is to emphasize that these two types of patterns, sharp ecotones between vegetation types and large-scale landscape patterns of vegetation, both have a common basis in the concept of bistability, in which alternative stable states can occur on an area of land. Another purpose is to note that an understanding of the basis of these patterns may ultimately help in management decisions.
13 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that age dependence in plant chemical defenses has the capacity to cause hare–plant population cycles, a new result.
Abstract: In this paper we study the effects that woody plant chemical defenses may have on interactions between boreal hares that in winter feed almost entirely on twigs. We focus particularly on the fact that toxin concentration often varies with the age of twig segments. The model incorporates the fact that the woody internodes of the youngest segments of the twigs of the deciduous angiosperm species that these hares prefer to eat are more defended by toxins than the woody internodes of the older segments that subtend and support the younger segments. Thus, the per capita daily intake of the biomass of the older segments of twigs by hares is much higher than their intake of the biomass of the younger segments of twigs. This age-dependent toxicity of twig segments is modeled using age-structured model equations which are reduced to a system of delay differential equations involving multiple delays in the woody plant–hare dynamics. A novel aspect of the modeling was that it had to account for mortality of non-consumed younger twig segment biomass when older twig biomass was bitten off and consumed. Basic mathematical properties of the model are established together with upper and lower bounds on the solutions. Necessary and sufficient conditions are found for the linear stability of the equilibrium in which the hare is extinct, and sufficient conditions are found for the global stability of this equilibrium. Numerical simulations confirmed the analytical results and demonstrated the existence of limit cycles over ranges of parameters reasonable for hares browsing on woody vegetation in boreal ecosystems. This showed that age dependence in plant chemical defenses has the capacity to cause hare–plant population cycles, a new result.
12 citations
TL;DR: Optimal strategies of carbon allocation were defined as the maximum biomass of reproductive propagules produced per unit time, and found to vary with changes in external factors.
Abstract: We use modeling to determine the optimal relative plant carbon allocations between foliage, fine roots, anti-herbivore defense, and reproduction to maximize reproductive output. The model treats these plant components and the herbivore compartment as variables. Herbivory is assumed to be purely folivory. Key external factors include nutrient availability, degree of shading, and intensity of herbivory. Three alternative functional responses are used for herbivory, two of which are variations on donor-dependent herbivore (models 1a and 1b) and one of which is a Lotka–Volterra type of interaction (model 2). All three were modified to include the negative effect of chemical defenses on the herbivore. Analysis showed that, for all three models, two stable equilibria could occur, which differs from most common functional responses when no plant defense component is included. Optimal strategies of carbon allocation were defined as the maximum biomass of reproductive propagules produced per unit time, and found to vary with changes in external factors. Increased intensity of herbivory always led to an increase in the fractional allocation of carbon to defense. Decreases in available limiting nutrient generally led to increasing importance of defense. Decreases in available light had little effect on defense but led to increased allocation to foliage. Decreases in limiting nutrient and available light led to decreases in allocation to reproduction in models 1a and 1b but not model 2. Increases in allocation to plant defense were usually accompanied by shifts in carbon allocation away from fine roots, possibly because higher plant defense reduced the loss of nutrients to herbivory.
8 citations