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Trophic coherence determines food-web stability

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Johnson, Samuel, Domínguez-García, Virginia, Donetti, Luca and Muñoz, Miguel A. (Miguel Angel Muñoz Martínez) (2014) Trophic coherence determines food-web stability. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111 (50). pp. 17923-17928. doi:10.1073/pnas.1409077111 ISSN 0027-8424.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1409077111

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Abstract

Why are large, complex ecosystems stable? Both theory and simulations of current models predict the onset of instability with growing size and complexity, so for decades it has been conjectured that ecosystems must have some unidentified structural property exempting them from this outcome. We show that trophic coherence -- a hitherto ignored feature of food webs which current structural models fail to reproduce -- is a better statistical predictor of linear stability than size or complexity. Furthermore, we prove that a maximally coherent network with constant interaction strengths will always be linearly stable. We also propose a simple model which, by correctly capturing the trophic coherence of food webs, accurately reproduces their stability and other basic structural features. Most remarkably, our model shows that stability can increase with size and complexity. This suggests a key to May's Paradox, and a range of opportunities and concerns for biodiversity conservation.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: Q Science > QA Mathematics
Q Science > QC Physics
Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology
Divisions: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Research Centres > Centre for Complexity Science
Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Mathematics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Biotic communities, Food chains (Ecology)
Journal or Publication Title: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Publisher: National Academy of Sciences
ISSN: 0027-8424
Official Date: 16 December 2014
Dates:
DateEvent
16 December 2014Published
2 December 2014Available
Volume: 111
Number: 50
Page Range: pp. 17923-17928
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1409077111
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
Date of first compliant deposit: 28 December 2015
Date of first compliant Open Access: 28 December 2015
Funder: Spain. Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN), Andalusia (Spain). Proyecto de Excelencia, Oxford Centre for Integrative Systems Biology, European Commission (EC)
Grant number: FIS2009-08451 (MICINN), P09FQM-4682 (Andalusia), PIEF-GA-2010-276454 (EC)
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