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Abstract / Description of output
Conventional ecological models show that complexity destabilizes foodwebs, suggesting that foodwebs should have neither large numbers of species nor a large number of interactions. However, in nature the opposite appears to be the case. Here we show that if the interactions between species are allowed to evolve within a generalized Lotka-Volterra model such stabilizing feedbacks and weak interactions emerge automatically. Moreover, we show that trophic levels also emerge spontaneously from the evolutionary approach, and the efficiency of the unperturbed ecosystem increases with time. The key to stability in large foodwebs appears to arise not from complexity per se but from evolution at the level of the ecosystem which favors stabilizing (negative) feedbacks.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 158701 |
Pages (from-to) | - |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Physical Review Letters |
Volume | 93 |
Issue number | 15 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 8 Oct 2004 |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- COMMUNITIES
- COMPLEXITY
- STABILITY
- ECOSYSTEMS
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