Increasing complexity can increase stability in a self-regulating ecosystem
Increasing complexity can increase stability in a self-regulating ecosystem
A long standing debate within ecology is to what extent ecosystem complexity and stability are related. Landmark theoretical studies claimed that the more complex an ecosystem, the more unstable it is likely to be. Stability in an ecosystems context can be assessed in different ways. In this paper we measure stability in terms of a model ecosystem’s ability to regulate environmental conditions. We show how increasing biodiversity in this model can result in the regulation of the environment over a wider range of external perturbations. This is achieved via changes to the ecosystem’s resistance and resilience. This result crucially depends on the feedback that the organisms have on their environment.
133-142
Dyke, J. G.
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McDonald-Gibson, J.
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Di Paolo, E.
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Harvey, I. R.
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2007
Dyke, J. G.
e2cc1b09-ae44-4525-88ed-87ee08baad2c
McDonald-Gibson, J.
ba3c2496-0ec3-4b8c-b113-7bbd84694c36
Di Paolo, E.
88c07ea5-4a0e-4e7a-9724-d290d4113bbe
Harvey, I. R.
2e579894-3074-48bc-b8a3-454364b3709c
Dyke, J. G., McDonald-Gibson, J., Di Paolo, E. and Harvey, I. R.
(2007)
Increasing complexity can increase stability in a self-regulating ecosystem.
Proceedings of IXth European Conference on Artificial Life, ECAL 2007.
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Abstract
A long standing debate within ecology is to what extent ecosystem complexity and stability are related. Landmark theoretical studies claimed that the more complex an ecosystem, the more unstable it is likely to be. Stability in an ecosystems context can be assessed in different ways. In this paper we measure stability in terms of a model ecosystem’s ability to regulate environmental conditions. We show how increasing biodiversity in this model can result in the regulation of the environment over a wider range of external perturbations. This is achieved via changes to the ecosystem’s resistance and resilience. This result crucially depends on the feedback that the organisms have on their environment.
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2007 Dyke.pdf
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Published date: 2007
Venue - Dates:
Proceedings of IXth European Conference on Artificial Life, ECAL 2007, 2007-01-01
Organisations:
Agents, Interactions & Complexity
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Local EPrints ID: 272877
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/272877
PURE UUID: 8ead7177-868c-4bb6-81a9-88685d003cd5
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Date deposited: 29 Sep 2011 12:52
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 10:11
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Contributors
Author:
J. McDonald-Gibson
Author:
E. Di Paolo
Author:
I. R. Harvey
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