Ecological networks and their fragility

• Published in: Nature Vol. 442; no. 7100; pp. 259 - 264
• Main Authors: Montoya, José M, Solé, Ricard V, Pimm, Stuart L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing 20.07.2006; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Banks; Biological and medical sciences; Complex systems; Ecology; Ecosystem; Ecosystems; Feeding Behavior - physiology; Flowers; Food Chain; Fragility; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Herbivory; Host-Parasite Interactions; Insecta; Insects; Metaphors; Networks; Parasitism; Pollination; Predation; Predatory Behavior - physiology; Stability; Systems stability; Food web; Interaction; Trophic structure; Network; Trophic relation; Ecology; Brittleness; Complexity; Interspecific relation
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687; 1476-4679
• DOI: 10.1038/nature04927

Darwin used the metaphor of a 'tangled bank' to describe the complex interactions between species. Those interactions are varied: they can be antagonistic ones involving predation, herbivory and parasitism, or mutualistic ones, such as those involving the pollination of flowers by insects. Moreover, the metaphor hints that the interactions may be complex to the point of being impossible to understand. All interactions can be visualized as ecological networks, in which species are linked together, either directly or indirectly through intermediate species. Ecological networks, although complex, have well defined patterns that both illuminate the ecological mechanisms underlying them and promise a better understanding of the relationship between complexity and ecological stability.