Departamento de Física and Millennium Institute for Research in Optics, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 487-3, Santiago, Chile.
Département de Physique, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), CP 231, Campus Plaine, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
Sci Rep. 2021 Sep 15;11(1):18331. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-97472-4.
Self-organisation is a ubiquitous phenomenon in ecosystems. These systems can experience transitions from a uniform cover towards the formation of vegetation patterns as a result of symmetry-breaking instability. They can be either periodic or localised in space. Localised vegetation patterns consist of more or less circular spots or patches that can be either isolated or randomly distributed in space. We report on a striking patterning phenomenon consisting of localised vegetation labyrinths. This intriguing pattern is visible in satellite photographs taken in many territories of Africa and Australia. They consist of labyrinths which is spatially irregular pattern surrounded by either a homogeneous cover or a bare soil. The phenomenon is not specific to particular plants or soils. They are observed on strictly homogenous environmental conditions on flat landscapes, but they are also visible on hills. The spatial size of localized labyrinth ranges typically from a few hundred meters to ten kilometres. A simple modelling approach based on the interplay between short-range and long-range interactions governing plant communities or on the water dynamics explains the observations reported here.
自组织是生态系统中普遍存在的现象。这些系统可能会由于对称破缺不稳定性而从均匀覆盖物向植被模式的形成转变。它们可以是周期性的，也可以是空间局部的。空间局部的植被模式由或多或少的圆形斑点或斑块组成，这些斑点或斑块可以在空间中孤立存在或随机分布。我们报告了一个引人注目的模式形成现象，包括局部的植被迷宫。这种有趣的模式可以在非洲和澳大利亚的许多地区拍摄的卫星照片中看到。它们由迷宫组成，迷宫是由不规则空间模式包围的，要么是均匀的覆盖物，要么是裸露的土壤。这种现象不仅限于特定的植物或土壤。它们在平坦的景观上严格的同质环境中观察到，但在丘陵地带也可以看到。局部迷宫的空间大小通常从几百米到十公里不等。一种基于短程和长程相互作用相互作用控制植物群落的简单建模方法或基于水动力学解释了这里报告的观察结果。
