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The Google matrix controls the stability of structured ecological and biological networks

journal contribution
posted on 2024-11-02, 04:08 authored by Lewi StoneLewi Stone
May's celebrated theoretical work of the 70's contradicted the established paradigm by demonstrating that complexity leads to instability in biological systems. Here May's random-matrix modelling approach is generalized to realistic large-scale webs of species interactions, be they structured by networks of competition, mutualism or both. Simple relationships are found to govern these otherwise intractable models, and control the parameter ranges for which biological systems are stable and feasible. Our analysis of model and real empirical networks is only achievable on introducing a simplifying Google-matrix reduction scheme, which in the process, yields a practical ecological eigenvalue stability index. These results provide an insight into how network topology, especially connectance, influences species stable coexistence. Constraints controlling feasibility (positive equilibrium populations) in these systems are found more restrictive than those controlling stability, helping explain the enigma of why many classes of feasible ecological models are nearly always stable.

Funding

New statistical approaches for analysing foodwebs and species distributions

Australian Research Council

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History

Related Materials

  1. 1.
    DOI - Is published in 10.1038/ncomms12857
  2. 2.
    ISSN - Is published in 20411723

Journal

Nature Communications

Volume

7

Number

12857

Start page

1

End page

6

Total pages

6

Publisher

Nature

Place published

United Kingdom

Language

English

Copyright

© The Author(s) 2016. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution

Former Identifier

2006074592

Esploro creation date

2020-06-22

Fedora creation date

2017-06-29

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