Spatial pattern formation enhances alpine marsh ecological resilience

Spatial pattern formation is recognized as a signal of ecological resilience, which could enhance ecosystems' persistence to environmental stress and make them evade catastrophic transitions. However, there is a lack of evidence and mechanisms for this phenomenon in natural ecosystems. Here, we conducted a large-scale plant community and spatial pattern survey across 116 sites in the alpine marshes on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Our results showed that the alpine marsh shifted to a stable state characterized by multiple hummock characteristics during degradation. The hummock formation enhanced the compositional similarity between hummock-associated communities and the desired alpine marsh, thereby driving ecological resilience and making the system less susceptible to catastrophic transitions. Furthermore, an increase in hummock area and height, coupled with a reduction in hummock number, enhanced both environmental heterogeneity and plant beta diversity. In turn, greater environmental heterogeneity positively influenced beta diversity, which subsequently promoted higher compositional similarity across communities, ultimately contributing to increased ecological resilience. This study provides evidence and a mechanism for showing that spatial pattern formation drives resilience in real-world ecosystems. The findings highlight the necessity of incorporating spatial patterns into strategies for conserving biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, as well as enhancing ecological resilience in the face of accelerating environmental change.