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Role of detritus in a spatial food web model with diffusion

Andrzej Pękalski* and Janusz Szwabiński†

  • Insitute of Theoretical Physics, University of Wrocław, pl. M. Borna 9, 50-254 Wrocław, Poland

  • *andrzej.pekalski@ift.uni.wroc.pl
  • †janusz.szwabinski@ift.uni.wroc.pl
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Phys. Rev. E 89, 052714 – Published 28 May, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.89.052714

Abstract

One of the central themes in modern ecology is the enduring debate on whether there is a relationship between the complexity of a biological community and its stability. In this paper, we focus on the role of detritus and spatial dispersion on the stability of ecosystems. Using Monte Carlo simulations we analyze two three-level models of food webs: a grazing one with the basal species (i.e., primary producers) having unlimited food resources and a detrital one in which the basal species uses detritus as a food resource. While the vast majority of theoretical studies neglects detritus, from our results it follows that the detrital food web is more stable than its grazing counterpart, because the interactions mediated by detritus damp out fluctuations in species' densities. Since the detritus model is the more complex one in terms of interaction patterns, our results provide evidence for the advocates of the complexity as one of the factors enhancing stability of ecosystems.

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Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. E 89, 052714– Published 28 May, 2014
  • Received 31 October 2013
  • Revised 14 April 2014

©2014 American Physical Society

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