Aperiodic clustered and periodic hexagonal vegetation spot arrays explained by inhomogeneous environments and climate trends in arid ecosystems

[2406.12581] Aperiodic clustered and periodic hexagonal vegetation spot arrays explained by inhomogeneous environments and climate trends in arid ecosystems Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Search arXiv Press Enter to search · Advanced search Quantitative Biology > Populations and Evolution arXiv:2406.12581 (q-bio) [Submitted on 18 Jun 2024 ( v1 ), last revised 12 Apr 2026 (this version, v2)] Title: Aperiodic clustered and periodic hexagonal vegetation spot arrays explained by inhomogeneous environments and climate trends in arid ecosystems Authors: D. Pinto-Ramos , M. G. Clerc , A. Makhoute , M. Tlidi View a PDF of the paper titled Aperiodic clustered and periodic hexagonal vegetation spot arrays explained by inhomogeneous environments and climate trends in arid ecosystems, by D. Pinto-Ramos and 3 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract: Due to climate change, overgrazing, and deforestation, arid ecosystems are vulnerable to desertification and land degradation. As aridity increases, vegetation cover loses spatial homogeneity and self-organizes into heterogeneous vegetation patterns, a step before a catastrophic shift to bare soil. Several studies suggest that environmental inhomogeneities in time or space are crucial to understand these phenomena. Using a unified mathematical model and incorporating environmental inhomogeneities in space, we show how two branches of vegetation patterns create a hysteresis loop as the mortality level changes. In an increasing mortality scenario, one observes an equilibrium branch of high vegetation biomass that forms self-organized hexagonal-like patterns. However, when the mortality trend is reversed, one observes a branch with low biomass and no periodicity, where vegetation spots form disordered clusters instead of a hexagonal lattice. This behavior is supported by remote sensing and field observations and can be linked to climate change in arid ecosystems. Comments: v1 was split into two different works. This version matches the published theory and simulation part of our work. A new entry will be created for the extended data analysis and applications Subjects: Populations and Evolution (q-bio.PE) ; Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems (nlin.AO); Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS) Cite as: arXiv:2406.12581 [q-bio.PE] (or arXiv:2406.12581v2 [q-bio.PE] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2406.12581 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Journal reference: Geophysical Research Letters,52,e2025GL118462 Related DOI : https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL118462 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources Submission history From: David Pinto-Ramos [ view email ] [v1] Tue, 18 Jun 2024 13:12:19 UTC (16,018 KB) [v2] Sun, 12 Apr 2026 13:26:58 UTC (2,331 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Aperiodic clustered and periodic hexagonal vegetation spot arrays explained by inhomogeneous environments and climate trends in arid ecosystems, by D. 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