A Percolation Model of Ecological Flows

Abstract

The boundary zone between adjacent communities has long been recognized as a functionally important component of ecosystems. The diversity and abundance of species, the flow and accumulation of material and energy, and the propagation of disturbances may all be affected by landscape boundaries. However, the spatial arrangement of different habitats and their boundaries has received little direct study. The difficulty in studying landscape boundaries has been due, in part, to the variety of responses of organisms to ecotones. Therefore, definitive tests of relationships between ecological processes and the pattern of landscape boundaries will be greatly assisted by developing a standard against which comparisons can be made. Neutral models can define this standard by producing the expected'' Poisson distribution have been well established, but a general approach for relating ecological processes and landscape patterns must still be defined. The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate how neutral models that are developed from percolation theory can be used to address the problem How do ecological system boundaries influence biotic diversity and the flow of energy, information and materials '' 26 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab.