@article{fdi:010055789,
  title = {{D}eterminants and dynamics of banded vegetation pattern migration in arid climates},
  author = {{D}eblauwe, {V}incent and {C}outeron, {P}ierre and {B}ogaert, {J}. and {B}arbier, {N}icolas},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{D}ense vegetation bands aligned to contour levels and alternating at regular intervals with relatively barren interbands have been reported at the margins of all tropical deserts. {S}ince their discovery in the 1950s, it has been supposed that these vegetation bands migrate upslope, forming a space time cyclic pattern. {E}vidence to date has been relatively sparse and indirect, and observations have remained conflicting. {U}nequivocal photographic evidence of upslope migration (a few decimeters per year) is provided here for three independent dryland areas exhibiting periodic banded pattern: (1) the {U}.{S}. northeastern {C}hihuahuan {D}esert, (2) the {S}omalian {H}aud, and (3) the {M}editerranean steppes of eastern {M}orocco. {M}igration speeds, averaged through time and space using {F}ourier cross-spectral analysis, are shown to be directly proportional to pattern scale (wavelength). {A} sequence of aerial photographs of the {C}hihuahuan {D}esert showed that migration was not continuous, but intermittent in response to fluctuating weather regimes. {T}he rates at which bands expanded upslope and contracted downslope were better predicted by the change in annual rainfall than by its average level. {H}owever, the migration of banded patterns cannot be considered as systematic because in our observations of three other banded systems located in the {S}omalian {H}aud, central {A}ustralia, and western {N}ew {S}outh {W}ales, migration was undetectable at the available image resolution. {I}n each of the six sites under study, the modal value of band orientation axes was verified to be approximately orthogonal to the steepest slope. {O}ur results underscore the importance of taking both the spatial structure and the past climate sequence into account for understanding vegetation dynamics in arid to semiarid ecosystems. {I}n addition, we show how {F}ourier spectral analysis applied to historical series of optical images can serve to quantify landscape dynamics at a decadal time scale.},
  keywords = {aridity ; {A}ustralia ; banded patterns ; {C}hihuahuan {D}esert ; cross-spectral analysis ; drought ; patch dynamics ; plant demography ; remote sensing ; self-organization ; {S}omalia ; tiger bush},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{E}cological {M}onographs},
  volume = {82},
  numero = {1},
  pages = {3--21},
  ISSN = {0012-9615},
  year = {2012},
  DOI = {10.5061/dryad.1qr41s56},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010055789},
}