Young Complexity Researchers’ Lunch (YCRL) #19: Rethinking tipping points in spatial ecosystems

Before the pandemic, we organized biweekly sessions at the CCSS called “Reading Group/Science Jam” for our researchers to discuss challenges in Complex Systems Studies. Now with the possibility to meet in person at the CCSS again, we would like to reintroduce this kind of community building events and make them more approachable for young complexity researchers to share their complex systems science related work in a relaxing and informal settings. Everyone is welcome!

Therefore, we cordially invite you to the Young Complexity Researchers’ Lunch (YCRL) #19 on Tuesday May 21 (12:30-13:00) at the Centre for Complex Systems Studies (CCSS) where you can:

• Get a free gourmet lunch with the best sandwiches you can get in the Utrecht Science Park;

• Know one young complexity researchers' work over just 30 mins;

• Contribute your professional knowledge and experiences in a relaxing and informal setting;

• Develop potential collaboration.

YCRL#19: Rethinking tipping points in spatial ecosystems
Leading young complexity researcher: Dr. Swarnendu Banerjee, Spatial Ecology and Global Change (Utrecht University)

Abstract:
The theory of alternative stable states and tipping points has garnered a lot of attention in the last decades. It predicts potential critical transitions from one ecosystem state to a completely different state under increasing environmental stress. However, typically ecosystem models that predict tipping do not resolve space explicitly. As ecosystems are inherently spatial, it is important to understand the effects of incorporating spatial processes in models, and how those insights translate to the real world. Moreover, spatial ecosystem structures, such as vegetation patterns, are important in the prediction of ecosystem response in the face of environmental change. Models and observations from real savanna ecosystems and drylands have suggested that they may exhibit both tipping behavior as well as spatial pattern formation. Hence, in this talk, I will use humid savannas and drylands to illustrate several pattern formation phenomena that may arise when incorporating spatial dynamics in models that exhibit tipping without resolving space. I will argue that such mechanisms challenge the notion of large-scale critical transitions in response to global change and reveal a more resilient nature of spatial ecosystems.

Everyone is welcome, and please feel free to invite your colleagues/friends/classmates/students to join us.

If you would like to have the lunch arrangement, please sign up before 15:00 Monday May 20.