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Reconciling complexity with stability in naturally assembling food webs

Author

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  • Anje-Margriet Neutel

    (University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK
    Present address: British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK.)

  • Johan A. P. Heesterbeek

    (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Theoretical Epidemiology, Utrecht University)

  • Johan van de Koppel

    (Centre for Estuarine and Marine Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW))

  • Guido Hoenderboom

    (Wageningen University and Research Centre)

  • An Vos

    (Alterra, Soil Science Centre, Wageningen University and Research Centre)

  • Coen Kaldeway

    (Alterra, Soil Science Centre, Wageningen University and Research Centre)

  • Frank Berendse

    (Nature Conservation and Plant Ecology Group, Wageningen University)

  • Peter C. de Ruiter

    (Alterra, Soil Science Centre, Wageningen University and Research Centre
    Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development and Innovation, Utrecht University)

Abstract

Food web complexity Natural ecosystems consist of complex networks of feeding relations between organisms. Ecologists aim to understand what keeps such intricate networks stable, despite the fact that a disturbance may lead to all kinds of chain reactions of populations affecting each other, which might be expected to make these food webs very vulnerable. Anje-Margriet Neutel et al. now show that by keeping a relatively high proportion of ecosystem biomass at the base of food chains, preserving a 'pyramidal' shape, food webs grow in complexity while maintaining their stability. This work, based on a long-term study of below-ground food webs in sandy dune soils from two different areas in the Netherlands, reconciles 'May's paradox', which holds that randomly generated food webs decrease in stability as they increase in complexity.

Suggested Citation

  • Anje-Margriet Neutel & Johan A. P. Heesterbeek & Johan van de Koppel & Guido Hoenderboom & An Vos & Coen Kaldeway & Frank Berendse & Peter C. de Ruiter, 2007. "Reconciling complexity with stability in naturally assembling food webs," Nature, Nature, vol. 449(7162), pages 599-602, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:449:y:2007:i:7162:d:10.1038_nature06154
    DOI: 10.1038/nature06154
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Zhibin & Yan, Chuan & Krebs, Charles J. & Stenseth, Nils Chr., 2015. "Ecological non-monotonicity and its effects on complexity and stability of populations, communities and ecosystems," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 312(C), pages 374-384.
    2. Chunming Li & Jianshe Chen & Xiaolin Liao & Aaron P. Ramus & Christine Angelini & Lingli Liu & Brian R. Silliman & Mark D. Bertness & Qiang He, 2023. "Shorebirds-driven trophic cascade helps restore coastal wetland multifunctionality," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Frossard, Victor & Rimet, Frédéric & Perga, Marie-Elodie, 2018. "Causal networks reveal the dominance of bottom-up interactions in large, deep lakes," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 368(C), pages 136-146.
    4. Oimahmad Rahmonov & Sylwia Skreczko & Małgorzata Rahmonov, 2021. "Changes in Soil Features and Phytomass during Vegetation Succession in Sandy Areas," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-26, March.
    5. Scotti, Marco & Bondavalli, Cristina & Bodini, Antonio, 2009. "Linking trophic positions and flow structure constraints in ecological networks: Energy transfer efficiency or topology effect?," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 220(21), pages 3070-3080.
    6. Kostić, Vladimir R. & Cvetković, Ljiljana & Cvetković, Dragana Lj., 2016. "Improved stability indicators for empirical food webs," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 320(C), pages 1-8.
    7. Cvetković, Ljiljana & Kostić, Vladimir & Doroslovački, Ksenija & Cvetković, Dragana Lj., 2016. "Euclidean norm estimates of the inverse of some special block matrices," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 284(C), pages 12-23.
    8. Cropp, Roger & Norbury, John, 2009. "Simple predator–prey interactions control dynamics in a plankton food web model," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 220(13), pages 1552-1565.
    9. Torres-Alruiz, Maria Daniela & Rodríguez, Diego J., 2013. "A topo-dynamical perspective to evaluate indirect interactions in trophic webs: New indexes," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 363-369.
    10. Skene, Keith R., 2013. "The energetics of ecological succession: A logistic model of entropic output," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 287-293.
    11. Dragana Cvetković & Đorđe Vukelić & Ksenija Doroslovački, 2024. "A New Subclass of H-Matrices with Applications," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-15, July.

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