Meliora: a podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute
Welcome to the Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability and Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton!
This podcast explores the greatest and most wicked problem that is sustainability, whilst looking at how we are collectively addressing this critical global challenge.
Sustainability needs to be addressed by understanding how the economy, society, culture, politics and environment intersect, and this is the focus that informs each episode of the Meliora podcast.
In each episode, host Professor Simon Kemp and guest hosts are joined by a variety of guests, including academics, students, staff, researchers, alumni, community groups and business leaders.
The aim of the podcast is to shine a light on the vast range of topics surrounding sustainability and to allow listeners to learn about the critical challenges we face, as well as how they can be part of the solution. We also ensure our fantastic students have the opportunity to share their brilliant work with the world.
Podcast host: Professor Simon Kemp, Deputy Director of the Sustainability & Resilience Institute, University of Southampton
Podcast editors: Lily Killner, Sophie Green, Libby Kale, Jack Dunham, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton
Please do get in touch to discuss this podcast and any of the issues we raise by emailing sri@soton.ac.uk
Follow us on instagram and X: @meliorapodcast
Meliora: a podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute
Holly Hoban: Spotting Resilience - Measuring the Effect of Vegetation Turing Patterns in Dryland Ecosystems
In this episode of the Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium we are joined by Holly Hoban (BSc Environmental Science) to discuss her Independent Research Project ‘Spotting Resilience: Measuring the Effect of Vegetation Turing Patterns in Dryland Ecosystems.’
Since the development of aerial photography, striking vegetation patterns such as spots, stripes and labyrinths have been identified and studied in drylands across the globe. They are examples of Turing patterns, self-organised features which emerge due to simple feedback processes. This dissertation project used satellite data to test whether these patterns make ecosystem productivity more stable over time, or more resilient to droughts. Results showed that patterned samples were more resilient than non-patterned samples and suggested that different types of patterns affect resilience differently, with the most efficient structures not always achieving the best outcome. If incorporated into management strategies, vegetation patterns could benefit conservation, restoration, and agriculture in regions threatened by desertification and climate change, as well as having implications for other areas of resilience research. This research relates to SDGs 2, 11, 13 and 15.
Relevant articles for further reading:
Evasion of tipping in complex systems through spatial pattern formation https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abj0359
Bridging ecology and physics: Australian fairy circles regenerate following model assumptions on ecohydrological feedbacks https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.13493
The global biogeography and environmental drivers of fairy circles https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2304032120
The Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium is part of the 2024 Student Takeover Season where we celebrate the fantastic sustainability research work of our Undergraduate Students.
Episode Guest: Holly Hoban
Episode Host: Prof Simon Kemp
Episode Editor: Sophie Green
Engage with us on instagram and X: @meliorapodcast
