Interaction strengths in balanced carbon cycles and the absence of a relation between ecosystem complexity and stability
The strength of interactions is crucial to the stability of ecological networks. However, the patterns of interaction strengths in mathematical models of ecosystems have not yet been based upon independent observations of balanced material fluxes. Here we analyse two Antarctic ecosystems for which t...
Published in: | Ecology Letters |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2014
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/506398/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/506398/1/ele12266.pdf https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12266 |
id |
ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:506398 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:506398 2023-05-15T13:48:08+02:00 Interaction strengths in balanced carbon cycles and the absence of a relation between ecosystem complexity and stability Neutel, Anje-Margriet Thorne, Michael A.S. 2014-06 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/506398/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/506398/1/ele12266.pdf https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12266 en eng Wiley https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/506398/1/ele12266.pdf Neutel, Anje-Margriet; Thorne, Michael A.S. orcid:0000-0001-7759-612X . 2014 Interaction strengths in balanced carbon cycles and the absence of a relation between ecosystem complexity and stability. Ecology Letters, 17 (6). 651-661. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12266 <https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12266> cc_by CC-BY Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2014 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12266 2023-02-04T19:39:19Z The strength of interactions is crucial to the stability of ecological networks. However, the patterns of interaction strengths in mathematical models of ecosystems have not yet been based upon independent observations of balanced material fluxes. Here we analyse two Antarctic ecosystems for which the interaction strengths are obtained: (1) directly, from independently measured material fluxes, (2) for the complete ecosystem and (3) with a close match between species and ‘trophic groups’. We analyse the role of recycling, predation and competition and find that ecosystem stability can be estimated by the strengths of the shortest positive and negative predator-prey feedbacks in the network. We show the generality of our explanation with another 21 observed food webs, comparing random-type parameterisations of interaction strengths with empirical ones. Our results show how functional relationships dominate over average-network topology. They make clear that the classic complexity-instability paradox is essentially an artificial interaction-strength result. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic Ecology Letters 17 6 651 661 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
The strength of interactions is crucial to the stability of ecological networks. However, the patterns of interaction strengths in mathematical models of ecosystems have not yet been based upon independent observations of balanced material fluxes. Here we analyse two Antarctic ecosystems for which the interaction strengths are obtained: (1) directly, from independently measured material fluxes, (2) for the complete ecosystem and (3) with a close match between species and ‘trophic groups’. We analyse the role of recycling, predation and competition and find that ecosystem stability can be estimated by the strengths of the shortest positive and negative predator-prey feedbacks in the network. We show the generality of our explanation with another 21 observed food webs, comparing random-type parameterisations of interaction strengths with empirical ones. Our results show how functional relationships dominate over average-network topology. They make clear that the classic complexity-instability paradox is essentially an artificial interaction-strength result. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Neutel, Anje-Margriet Thorne, Michael A.S. |
spellingShingle |
Neutel, Anje-Margriet Thorne, Michael A.S. Interaction strengths in balanced carbon cycles and the absence of a relation between ecosystem complexity and stability |
author_facet |
Neutel, Anje-Margriet Thorne, Michael A.S. |
author_sort |
Neutel, Anje-Margriet |
title |
Interaction strengths in balanced carbon cycles and the absence of a relation between ecosystem complexity and stability |
title_short |
Interaction strengths in balanced carbon cycles and the absence of a relation between ecosystem complexity and stability |
title_full |
Interaction strengths in balanced carbon cycles and the absence of a relation between ecosystem complexity and stability |
title_fullStr |
Interaction strengths in balanced carbon cycles and the absence of a relation between ecosystem complexity and stability |
title_full_unstemmed |
Interaction strengths in balanced carbon cycles and the absence of a relation between ecosystem complexity and stability |
title_sort |
interaction strengths in balanced carbon cycles and the absence of a relation between ecosystem complexity and stability |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/506398/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/506398/1/ele12266.pdf https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12266 |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/506398/1/ele12266.pdf Neutel, Anje-Margriet; Thorne, Michael A.S. orcid:0000-0001-7759-612X . 2014 Interaction strengths in balanced carbon cycles and the absence of a relation between ecosystem complexity and stability. Ecology Letters, 17 (6). 651-661. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12266 <https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12266> |
op_rights |
cc_by |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12266 |
container_title |
Ecology Letters |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
651 |
op_container_end_page |
661 |
_version_ |
1766248750120960000 |