SENSE scientists in Science

SENSE researcher Dr.ir. Max Rietkerk, his SENSE colleagues Dr. Stefan Dekker and Prof. dr. Peter de Ruiter of Utrecht University (Copernicus Instituut) and Dr. Johan van de Koppel of the NIOO-CEME (Yerseke) have recently published an article in SCIENCE, titled 'Self-Organized Patchiness and Catastrophic Shifts in Ecosystems' (read the pdf) (M.Rietkerk et al, SCIENCE VOL 305, 24 SEPTEMBER 2004, p. 1926).

The vegetation of, among others, the African savanne, shows a surprisingly regular spatial patterns. This pattern depends on the history of the ecosystem, but also has a predictive value.
The article describes how the spatial pattern of vegetation determines how an ecosystem reacts to change, and desribes recent studies on various ecosystems that link self-organized patchiness to catastrophic shifts between ecosystem states.


Illustration: Model showing how ecosystems may undergo a predictable sequence of emerging self-organized patchiness as resource input decreases or increases. For details see the Science article.

Website Dr. Max Rietkerk: http://mk.geog.uu.nl/homepages/Max/maxhome.htm.