Understanding Ecosystem Complexity via Application of a Process-Based State Space rather than a Potential Surface

Figure 2

The full state space (or marking graph) of the termite colony model. The state space comprises 109 states labeled with a pair n/s where n is an identifying number for the marking and s is the number of strongly connected components (SCCs) for the basin or deadlock it belongs to. The initial state is displayed as a hexagon (A), deadlocks (states leading to a terminal state with no successor) are displayed as squares (five in total, of which two are in zones D and D′, and one (A) is close to the initial state), an example of two tipping points is displayed as a red segment (C), while other states are displayed as circles. Each SCC or basin is highlighted using a separate color (e.g., SCCs B and B′ are drawn in orange and green). The edges are directed and labeled with the number of the rule that was applied to perform the transition (defined in Table 2).