@article{8cbad6468558471390f62656c8b23467,
title = "Resource availability and heterogeneity shape the self-organisation of regular spatial patterning",
abstract = "Explaining large-scale ordered patterns and their effects on ecosystem functioning is a fundamental and controversial challenge in ecology. Here, we coupled empirical and theoretical approaches to explore how competition and spatial heterogeneity govern the regularity of colony dispersion in fungus-farming termites. Individuals from different colonies fought fiercely, and inter-nest distances were greater when nests were large and resources scarce—as expected if competition is strong, large colonies require more resources and foraging area scales with resource availability. Building these principles into a model of inter-colony competition showed that highly ordered patterns emerged under high resource availability and low resource heterogeneity. Analysis of this dynamical model provided novel insights into the mechanisms that modulate pattern regularity and the emergent effects of these patterns on system-wide productivity. Our results show how environmental context shapes pattern formation by social-insect ecosystem engineers, which offers one explanation for the marked variability observed across ecosystems.",
keywords = "coupled human-natural systems, ecosystem engineers, emergent properties, rangeland management, self-organised spatial patterning, semi-arid African savannas, spatial heterogeneity, termite mounds, territorial interference competition",
author = "{Castillo Vardaro}, {Jessica A.} and Bonachela, {Juan A.} and Baker, {Christopher C.M.} and Pinsky, {Malin L.} and Doak, {Daniel F.} and Pringle, {Robert M.} and Tarnita, {Corina E.}",
note = "Funding Information: We thank the researchers and field assistants at Mpala Research Centre, including Kimani Ndung'U, Onesmus Kibiwott, James Kiplang'at, Echakan Nairobi and Paul Seketi. We are grateful to MRC's Executive Director, Dino Martins and Laban Njoroge and Ester Kioko of the National Museums of Kenya. We thank Michelle Stuart for advice and assistance with molecular work and genotyping. This work was supported by NSF grants DEB‐1355122 to C. E. T. and R. M. P., DEB‐1353781 to D. F. D. and DMS‐2052616 to J. A. B. Additional funding was provided by a Grand Challenges grant from the High Meadows Environmental Institute to C. E. T. and R. M. P. and by Moore Foundation grant #7800 to C. E. T. and J. A. B. Funding Information: We thank the researchers and field assistants at Mpala Research Centre, including Kimani Ndung'U, Onesmus Kibiwott, James Kiplang'at, Echakan Nairobi and Paul Seketi. We are grateful to MRC's Executive Director, Dino Martins and Laban Njoroge and Ester Kioko of the National Museums of Kenya. We thank Michelle Stuart for advice and assistance with molecular work and genotyping. This work was supported by NSF grants DEB-1355122 to C. E. T. and R. M. P., DEB-1353781 to D. F. D. and DMS-2052616 to J. A. B. Additional funding was provided by a Grand Challenges grant from the High Meadows Environmental Institute to C. E. T. and R. M. P. and by Moore Foundation grant #7800 to C. E. T. and J. A. B. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.",
year = "2021",
month = sep,
doi = "10.1111/ele.13822",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "24",
pages = "1880--1891",
journal = "Ecology Letters",
issn = "1461-023X",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
number = "9",
}