A mechanism of self-organization in a desert with phytogenic mounds University of Antwerp
Phytogenic mounds or nebkhas are formed by spatially isolated burial-tolerant plants, which have been trapping windborne sediment within their canopies. They occur in drylands all over the world, and nebkha landscapes are considered intermediate between stable grasslands and unstable deserts with mobile dunes. Depending on the previous state of the landscape, they can thus be viewed both as indicators of desertification and as signs of ...