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Ecological networks and their fragility

Nature volume 442, pages 259–264 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

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.

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Figure 1: Shortest paths in a complex food web.
Figure 2: Distribution of linkage density in ecological networks.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Dunne, D. Rafaelli, M. Emmerson and G. Woodward for comments; P. Jordano and R. Waide for the pictures and data for Fig. 2; and S. Valverde for assistance with the figures. This work was supported by an NERC Fellowship (J.M.M.) and the Santa Fe Institute (grant to R.V.S.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, E1 4NS, London, UK

    José M. Montoya

  2. ICREA-Complex Systems Laboratory, IMIM-UPF, Dr Aiguader 80, 08003, Barcelona, Spain

    José M. Montoya & Ricard V. Solé

  3. Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 27708, USA

    Stuart L. Pimm

  4. Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, New Mexico, 87501, USA

    Ricard V. Solé

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  1. José M. Montoya
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Correspondence to Stuart L. Pimm.

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Montoya, J., Pimm, S. & Solé, R. Ecological networks and their fragility. Nature 442, 259–264 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04927

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