PARENT SESSION
Organized Oral Session 6: Development of landscape heterogeneity at multiple scales in wetlands
Organizer(s): B Warner and A van der Valk
Monday, August 8, 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM, Meeting Room 516 A, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal

Self-organized vegetation patterns in mires.

Eppinga, Maarten^*,1, Rietkerk, Max¹, de Ruiter, Peter¹, Wassen, Martin¹, ¹ Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

ABSTRACT- The microtopography of mires frequently consists of ridges and hollows, alternating on a spatial scale of several meters. Contrary to these patterns in the Great Vasyugan Bog, Western-Siberia, the spatial interplay of these microtopographic features results in self-organized maze patterns on a larger scale (hundreds of meters). This pattern consists of ridges dominated by vascular plants in a more sparsely vegetated matrix of predominantly mosses. Remarkable features of the patterns are their spatial regularity and the sharp transitions between the topographic structures. Identification of the underlying mechanisms causing this pattern formation would increase our understanding of the functioning of mires, which play an important role in the global carbon cycle. A previous model study revealed that the spatial regularity of maze patterns could be explained by a positive feedback mechanism that results from active transpiration of vascular plants. However, we hypothesize that also the complicated competition dynamics between mosses and vascular plants amplify landscape heterogeneity in mires. As a means to test this hypothesis, we present a spatially explicit model that also takes into account the competition between vascular plants and mosses, and the positive feedbacks resulting from the ecological engineering capacities of both functional groups.

Key words: Mires, Self-organization, Vegetation patterns