Data from: Fractal measures of spatial pattern as a heuristic for return rate in vegetative systems

Measurement of population persistence is a long-standing problem in
ecology; in particular, whether it is possible to gain insights into
persistence without long time-series. Fractal measurements of spatial
patterns, such as the Korcak exponent or boundary dimension, have been
proposed as indicators of the persistence of underlying dynamics. Here we
explore under what conditions a predictive relationship between fractal
measures and persistence exists. We combine theoretical arguments with an
aerial snapshot and time series from a long-term study of seagrass. For
this form of vegetative growth, we find that the expected relationship
between the Korcak exponent and persistence is evident at survey sites
where the population return rate can be measured. This highlights a
limitation of the use of power-law patch-size distributions and other
indicators based on spatial snapshots. Moreover, our numeric simulations
show that for a single species and a range of environmental conditions
that the Korcak–persistence relationship provides a link between temporal
dynamics and spatial pattern; however, this relationship is specific to
demographic factors, so we cannot use this methodology to compare between
species.