Diversity increases the stability of ecosystems.

In 1972, Robert May showed that diversity is detrimental to an ecosystem since, as the number of species increases, the ecosystem is less stable. This is the so-called diversity-stability paradox, which has been derived by considering a mathematical model with linear interactions between the species...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Francesca Arese Lucini, Flaviano Morone, Maria Silvina Tomassone, Hernán A Makse
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2020
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/2500ca643da6411196bb27c3565dfce9
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:2500ca643da6411196bb27c3565dfce9
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:2500ca643da6411196bb27c3565dfce92021-12-02T20:18:57ZDiversity increases the stability of ecosystems.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0228692https://doaj.org/article/2500ca643da6411196bb27c3565dfce92020-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228692https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203In 1972, Robert May showed that diversity is detrimental to an ecosystem since, as the number of species increases, the ecosystem is less stable. This is the so-called diversity-stability paradox, which has been derived by considering a mathematical model with linear interactions between the species. Despite being in contradiction with empirical evidence, the diversity-stability paradox has survived the test of time for over 40+ years. In this paper we first show that this paradox is a conclusion driven solely by the linearity of the model employed in its derivation which allows for the neglection of the fixed point solution in the stability analysis. The linear model leads to an ill-posed solution and along with it, its paradoxical stability predictions. We then consider a model ecosystem with nonlinear interactions between species, which leads to a stable ecosystem when the number of species is increased. The saturating non linear term in the species interaction is analogous to a Hill function appearing in systems like gene regulation, neurons, diffusion of information and ecosystems The exact fixed point solution of this model is based on k-core percolation and shows that the paradox disappears. This theoretical result, which is exact and non-perturbative, shows that diversity is beneficial to the ecosystem in agreement with analyzed experimental evidence.Francesca Arese LuciniFlaviano MoroneMaria Silvina TomassoneHernán A MaksePublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 15, Iss 4, p e0228692 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Francesca Arese Lucini Flaviano Morone Maria Silvina Tomassone Hernán A Makse Diversity increases the stability of ecosystems.
description	In 1972, Robert May showed that diversity is detrimental to an ecosystem since, as the number of species increases, the ecosystem is less stable. This is the so-called diversity-stability paradox, which has been derived by considering a mathematical model with linear interactions between the species. Despite being in contradiction with empirical evidence, the diversity-stability paradox has survived the test of time for over 40+ years. In this paper we first show that this paradox is a conclusion driven solely by the linearity of the model employed in its derivation which allows for the neglection of the fixed point solution in the stability analysis. The linear model leads to an ill-posed solution and along with it, its paradoxical stability predictions. We then consider a model ecosystem with nonlinear interactions between species, which leads to a stable ecosystem when the number of species is increased. The saturating non linear term in the species interaction is analogous to a Hill function appearing in systems like gene regulation, neurons, diffusion of information and ecosystems The exact fixed point solution of this model is based on k-core percolation and shows that the paradox disappears. This theoretical result, which is exact and non-perturbative, shows that diversity is beneficial to the ecosystem in agreement with analyzed experimental evidence.
format	article
author	Francesca Arese Lucini Flaviano Morone Maria Silvina Tomassone Hernán A Makse
author_facet	Francesca Arese Lucini Flaviano Morone Maria Silvina Tomassone Hernán A Makse
author_sort	Francesca Arese Lucini
title	Diversity increases the stability of ecosystems.
title_short	Diversity increases the stability of ecosystems.
title_full	Diversity increases the stability of ecosystems.
title_fullStr	Diversity increases the stability of ecosystems.
title_full_unstemmed	Diversity increases the stability of ecosystems.
title_sort	diversity increases the stability of ecosystems.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/2500ca643da6411196bb27c3565dfce9
work_keys_str_mv	AT francescaareselucini diversityincreasesthestabilityofecosystems AT flavianomorone diversityincreasesthestabilityofecosystems AT mariasilvinatomassone diversityincreasesthestabilityofecosystems AT hernanamakse diversityincreasesthestabilityofecosystems
_version_	1718374214323404800

Diversity increases the stability of ecosystems.

Ejemplares similares