IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecomod/v326y2016icp13-22.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Same rainfall amount different vegetation—How environmental conditions and their interactions influence savanna dynamics

Author

Listed:
  • Tietjen, Britta

Abstract

Water limited ecosystems such as savannas are characterized by strong interactions between water fluxes and vegetation. However, the fraction of mean annual rainfall that is transformed into plant available water, is not only dependent on the prevailing vegetation cover, but also on abiotic factors such as soil texture and topography as well as intra-annual precipitation patterns. Most models projecting savanna vegetation cover dynamics have not accounted for these factors until now. Here, it is highlighted how and why spatial heterogeneity in water availability and vegetation cover is closely related to abiotic conditions. The role of soil texture, slope and precipitation patterns on water availability and emergent vegetation patterns are systematically tested by using the process-based, spatially explicit model EcoHyD. The analysis shows that the same overall precipitation will result in qualitatively different vegetation cover, depending on environmental conditions. This highlights that models of savanna systems should indeed resolve water dynamics and the feedbacks between water and vegetation with care. In addition the study discusses that future savanna models should go one step further and include phenotypic plasticity and demographic processes to better resolve individual plant responses towards water stress.

Suggested Citation

  • Tietjen, Britta, 2016. "Same rainfall amount different vegetation—How environmental conditions and their interactions influence savanna dynamics," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 326(C), pages 13-22.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:326:y:2016:i:c:p:13-22
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.06.013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380015002628
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.06.013?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fleischer, Aliza & Sternberg, Marcelo, 2006. "The economic impact of global climate change on Mediterranean rangeland ecosystems: A Space-for-Time approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 287-295, September.
    2. Grimm, Volker & Berger, Uta & DeAngelis, Donald L. & Polhill, J. Gary & Giske, Jarl & Railsback, Steven F., 2010. "The ODD protocol: A review and first update," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(23), pages 2760-2768.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Guo, Tong & Weise, Hanna & Fiedler, Sebastian & Lohmann, Dirk & Tietjen, Britta, 2018. "The role of landscape heterogeneity in regulating plant functional diversity under different precipitation and grazing regimes in semi-arid savannas," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 379(C), pages 1-9.
    2. Grimm, Volker & Berger, Uta, 2016. "Structural realism, emergence, and predictions in next-generation ecological modelling: Synthesis from a special issue," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 326(C), pages 177-187.
    3. Salecker, Jan & Dislich, Claudia & Wiegand, Kerstin & Meyer, Katrin M. & Pe'er, Guy, 2019. "EFForTS-LGraf: A landscape generator for creating smallholder-driven land-use mosaics," EFForTS Discussion Paper Series 29, University of Goettingen, Collaborative Research Centre 990 "EFForTS, Ecological and Socioeconomic Functions of Tropical Lowland Rainforest Transformation Systems (Sumatra, Indonesia)".

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tardy, Olivia & Lenglos, Christophe & Lai, Sandra & Berteaux, Dominique & Leighton, Patrick A., 2023. "Rabies transmission in the Arctic: An agent-based model reveals the effects of broad-scale movement strategies on contact risk between Arctic foxes," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 476(C).
    2. Vimercati, Giovanni & Hui, Cang & Davies, Sarah J. & Measey, G. John, 2017. "Integrating age structured and landscape resistance models to disentangle invasion dynamics of a pond-breeding anuran," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 356(C), pages 104-116.
    3. Jagadish, Arundhati & Dwivedi, Puneet & McEntire, Kira D. & Chandar, Mamta, 2019. "Agent-based modeling of “cleaner” cookstove adoption and woodfuel use: An integrative empirical approach," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 1-1.
    4. Hinker, Jonas & Hemkendreis, Christian & Drewing, Emily & März, Steven & Hidalgo Rodríguez, Diego I. & Myrzik, Johanna M.A., 2017. "A novel conceptual model facilitating the derivation of agent-based models for analyzing socio-technical optimality gaps in the energy domain," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 1219-1230.
    5. Tianran Ding & Wouter Achten, 2023. "Coupling agent-based modeling with territorial LCA to support agricultural land-use planning," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/359527, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    6. Jascha-Alexander Koch & Jens Lausen & Moritz Kohlhase, 2021. "Internalizing the externalities of overfunding: an agent-based model approach for analyzing the market dynamics on crowdfunding platforms," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 91(9), pages 1387-1430, November.
    7. Crevier, Lucas Phillip & Salkeld, Joseph H & Marley, Jessa & Parrott, Lael, 2021. "Making the best possible choice: Using agent-based modelling to inform wildlife management in small communities," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 446(C).
    8. Ulfia A. Lenfers & Julius Weyl & Thomas Clemen, 2018. "Firewood Collection in South Africa: Adaptive Behavior in Social-Ecological Models," Land, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-17, August.
    9. David, Viviane & Joachim, Sandrine & Tebby, Cleo & Porcher, Jean-Marc & Beaudouin, Rémy, 2019. "Modelling population dynamics in mesocosms using an individual-based model coupled to a bioenergetics model," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 398(C), pages 55-66.
    10. Lorscheid, Iris & Meyer, Matthias, 2016. "Divide and conquer: Configuring submodels for valid and efficient analyses of complex simulation models," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 326(C), pages 152-161.
    11. Moritz Kersting & Andreas Bossert & Leif Sörensen & Benjamin Wacker & Jan Chr. Schlüter, 2021. "Predicting effectiveness of countermeasures during the COVID-19 outbreak in South Africa using agent-based simulation," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-15, December.
    12. Meli, Mattia & Auclerc, Apolline & Palmqvist, Annemette & Forbes, Valery E. & Grimm, Volker, 2013. "Population-level consequences of spatially heterogeneous exposure to heavy metals in soil: An individual-based model of springtails," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 338-351.
    13. Groeneveld, Jürgen & Johst, Karin & Kawaguchi, So & Meyer, Bettina & Teschke, Mathias & Grimm, Volker, 2015. "How biological clocks and changing environmental conditions determine local population growth and species distribution in Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba): a conceptual model," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 303(C), pages 78-86.
    14. Henzler, Julia & Weise, Hanna & Enright, Neal J. & Zander, Susanne & Tietjen, Britta, 2018. "A squeeze in the suitable fire interval: Simulating the persistence of fire-killed plants in a Mediterranean-type ecosystem under drier conditions," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 389(C), pages 41-49.
    15. Kanapaux, William & Kiker, Gregory A., 2013. "Development and testing of an object-oriented model for adaptively managing human disturbance of least tern (Sternula antillarum) nesting habitat," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 268(C), pages 64-77.
    16. Fenintsoa Andriamasinoro & Raphael Danino-Perraud, 2021. "Use of artificial intelligence to assess mineral substance criticality in the French market: the example of cobalt," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 34(1), pages 19-37, April.
    17. Claudia Dislich & Elisabeth Hettig & Jan Salecker & Johannes Heinonen & Jann Lay & Katrin M Meyer & Kerstin Wiegand & Suria Tarigan, 2018. "Land-use change in oil palm dominated tropical landscapes—An agent-based model to explore ecological and socio-economic trade-offs," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(1), pages 1-20, January.
    18. Dur, Gaël & Won, Eun-Ji & Han, Jeonghoon & Lee, Jae-Seong & Souissi, Sami, 2021. "An individual-based model for evaluating post-exposure effects of UV-B radiation on zooplankton reproduction," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 441(C).
    19. Bauduin, Sarah & Grente, Oksana & Santostasi, Nina Luisa & Ciucci, Paolo & Duchamp, Christophe & Gimenez, Olivier, 2020. "An individual-based model to explore the impacts of lesser-known social dynamics on wolf populations," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 433(C).
    20. Zhai, Xueting & Zhong, Dixi & Luo, Qiuju, 2019. "Turn it around in crisis communication: An ABM approach," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:326:y:2016:i:c:p:13-22. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/ecological-modelling .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.