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Fractal measures of spatial pattern as a heuristic for return rate in vegetative systems
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 00:48 authored by M A Irvine, E L Jackson, Emma Kenyon, K J Cook, M J Keeling, J C BullMeasurement of population persistence is a long-standing problem in ecology; in particular, whether it is possible to gain insights into persistence without long time-series. Fractal measurements of spatial patterns, such as the Korcak exponent or boundary dimension, have been proposed as indicators of the persistence of underlying dynamics. Here we explore under what conditions a predictive relationship between fractal measures and persistence exists. We combine theoretical arguments with an aerial snapshot and time series from a long-term study of seagrass. For this form of vegetative growth, we find that the expected relationship between the Korcak exponent and persistence is evident at survey sites where the population return rate can be measured. This highlights a limitation of the use of power-law patch-size distributions and other indicators based on spatial snapshots. Moreover, our numeric simulations show that for a single species and a range of environmental conditions that the Korcak–persistence relationship provides a link between temporal dynamics and spatial pattern; however, this relationship is specific to demographic factors, so we cannot use this methodology to compare between species.
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Publication status
- Published
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- Published version
Journal
Royal Society Open ScienceISSN
2054-5703Publisher
Royal SocietyExternal DOI
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3Volume
3Department affiliated with
- Neuroscience Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2016-04-07First Open Access (FOA) Date
2016-04-07First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2016-04-07Usage metrics
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