Central-place seed foraging and vegetation patterns

We investigate how central-place seed foragers with a nest in the proximity of one or more seed sources determine the formation of different vegetation patterns. In particular, we discuss the ecological conditions that lead to the formation of hump-shaped (Janzen-Connell) patterns in a two-dimensional landscape. Our analysis shows that central-place predation can generate Janzen-Connell patterns even if predators' movement strategies are exclusively based on resource abundance, both in the single-plant/single-nest case and in a forest with several seed sources. We also show that social foraging may either promote or work against the formation of Janzen-Connell patterns, depending upon the way foragers take advantage of social interactions.