The stability of ecological communities largely depends on the strength of interactions
between predators and their prey. Here we show that these interaction strengths are …

The pattern of predator–prey interactions is thought to be a key determinant of ecosystem
processes and stability. Complex ecological networks are characterized by distributions of …

Large, complex networks of ecological interactions with random structure tend invariably to
instability. This mathematical relationship between complexity and local stability ignited a …

Feeding relationships can cause invasions, extirpations, and population fluctuations of a
species to dramatically affect other species within a variety of natural habitats. Empirical …

Ecological models show that complexity usually destabilizes food webs,, predicting that food
webs should not amass the large numbers of interacting species that are in fact found in …

Key advances are being made on the structures of predator–prey food webs and competitive
communities that enhance their stability, but little attention has been given to such …

Simple models, based on Lotka-Volterra types of interactions between predator and prey,
predict that enrichment will have a destabilizing effect on populations and that equilibrium …

Ecologists have long sought to understand how diversity and structure mediate the stability
of whole ecosystems. For high-diversity food webs, the interactions between species are …

Empirical studies have shown that, in real ecosystems, species–interaction strengths are
generally skewed in their distribution towards weak interactions. Some theoretical work also …

Trophic relationships, such as those between predator and prey or between pathogen and
host, are key interactions linking species in ecological food webs. The structure of these …