Data from: Termite mounds can increase the robustness of dryland ecosystems to climatic change

Self-organized spatial vegetation patterning is widespread and has been
described using models of scale-dependent feedback between plants and
water on homogeneous substrates. As rainfall decreases, these models yield
a characteristic sequence of patterns with increasingly sparse vegetation,
followed by sudden collapse to desert. Thus, the final, spot-like pattern
may provide early warning for such catastrophic shifts. In many arid
ecosystems, however, termite nests impart substrate heterogeneity by
altering soil properties, thereby enhancing plant growth. We show that
termite-induced heterogeneity interacts with scale-dependent feedbacks to
produce vegetation patterns at different spatial grains. Although the
coarse-grained patterning resembles that created by scale-dependent
feedback alone, it does not indicate imminent desertification. Rather,
mound-field landscapes are more robust to aridity, suggesting that
termites may help stabilize ecosystems under global change.