Spatial heterogeneity can explain the stable coexistence of savanna and forest in South America
Year: 2018
Type: preprint
Abstract: In work with a variety of co-authors, Staver and Levin have argued that savanna and forest coexist as alternative stable states with discontinuous changes in density of trees at the boundary. Here we formulate a nonhomogeneous spatial model of the competition between forest and savanna. We prove that coexistence occurs for a time that is exponential in the size of the system, and that after an initial transient, boundaries between the alternative equilibria remain stable. This result is valid in general for systems that exhibit bistability in a homogeneous environment.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Durrett, Rick, Ma, Ruibo
Institutions: Duke University, Beijing Jiaotong University
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2953339906