The Stability of Complex Model Ecosystems

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Abstract
In a fine-grained environment the response of a model ecosystem to changes in complexity is primarily determined by the functional responses involved. When type 3 (sigmoid) functional responses are prevalent stability can increase with complexity. This analytic result was supported by computer simulations of a specific food web. In a coarse-grained environment the central role of the functional response disappears. Simulations showed that although increasing complexity generally resulted in decreased stability, some examples exhibited an initial decline in stability as connectance increased but then showed greater stability as connectance was increased further. This effect could be due to the effect of complexity in reducing interspecific interactions. These conclusions relate to a measure of local stability. In fine-grained simulations the results were comparable whether based upon local or global stability. In coarse-grained simulations global stability, as measured by perseverance, often increased with increasing connectance even though local stability decreased.

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