Spatial Moment Equations for Plant Competition: Understanding Spatial Strategies and the Advantages of Short Dispersal

A plant lineage can compete for resources in a spatially variable environment by colonizing new areas, exploiting resources in those areas quickly before other plants arrive to compete with it, or tolerating competition once other plants do arrive. These specializations are ubiquitous in plant communities, but all three have never been derived from a spatial model of community dynamics-instead, the possibility of rapid exploitation has been...