Structural asymmetry and the stability of diverse food webs Export

@article{Rooney2006, abstract = {Untangling the influence of human activities on food-web stability and persistence is complex given the large numbers of species and overwhelming number of interactions within ecosystems. Although biodiversity has been associated with stability, the actual structures and processes that confer stability to diverse food webs remain largely unknown. Here we show that real food webs are structured such that top predators act as couplers of distinct energy channels that differ in both productivity and turnover rate. Our theoretical analysis shows that coupled fast and slow channels convey both local and non-local stability to food webs. Alarmingly, the same human actions that have been implicated in the loss of biodiversity also directly erode the very structures and processes that we show to confer stability on food webs.}, author = {Rooney, N. and Mccann, K. and Gellner, G. and Moore, J. C.}, citeulike-article-id = {2142884}, journal = {Nature (London)}, keywords = {capita, community, compartmentation, complex, dynamics, ecosystems, interaction, interactions, predator, real, strength, trophic}, month = {July}, number = {7100}, pages = {265--269}, posted-at = {2007-12-18 21:59:23}, priority = {2}, publisher = {Nature Publishing Group, Macmillan Building, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9xw, England}, title = {Structural asymmetry and the stability of diverse food webs}, volume = {442}, year = {2006} }

TY - JOUR ID - Rooney2006 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2142884 N2 - Untangling the influence of human activities on food-web stability and persistence is complex given the large numbers of species and overwhelming number of interactions within ecosystems. Although biodiversity has been associated with stability, the actual structures and processes that confer stability to diverse food webs remain largely unknown. Here we show that real food webs are structured such that top predators act as couplers of distinct energy channels that differ in both productivity and turnover rate. Our theoretical analysis shows that coupled fast and slow channels convey both local and non-local stability to food webs. Alarmingly, the same human actions that have been implicated in the loss of biodiversity also directly erode the very structures and processes that we show to confer stability on food webs. IS - 7100 JF - Nature (London) EP - 269 TI - Structural asymmetry and the stability of diverse food webs PB - Nature Publishing Group, Macmillan Building, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9xw, England VL - 442 SP - 265 KW - capita KW - community KW - compartmentation KW - complex KW - dynamics KW - ecosystems KW - interaction KW - interactions KW - predator KW - real KW - strength KW - trophic AU - Rooney, N AU - Mccann, K AU - Gellner, G AU - Moore, JC PY - 2006/July// ER -