Formation of Soil-Vegetation Patterns

Vegetation patterns often resemble the pattern of the geological substratum. In some cases, however, correlations between soils and vegetation in patterned distributions appear to have developed in an initial homogeneous landscape. Here, soil-vegetation feedback processes appear to be responsible for the development of such patterns. In this paper, we discuss various systems and their feedbacks that may lead to formation of patterns. In semiarid systems, soil-water-vegetation feedbacks might lead to Turing-like selforganized pattern formation, as indicated by previously published models. In other cases of patterned soil-vegetation systems, feedback mechanisms may be involved that locally enhance growth of one species and inhibit that of other species. These interactions do not fulfill the criteria of Turing for pattern formation. However, such strong competitive interactions may lead to patterned vegetation as is shown by a study of a competitive model including spreading of the species. This pattern is not due to self-organization but depends on the initial boundary conditions.