Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: From tropical forests to gut microbiomes, ecological communities host notably high numbers of coexisting species. Beyond high biodiversity, communities exhibit a range of complex dynamics that are difficult to explain under a unified framework. Using bacterial microcosms, we performed a direct test of theory predicting that simple community-level features dictate emergent behaviors of communities. As either the number of species or the strength of interactions increases, we show that microbial ecosystems transition between three distinct dynamical phases, from a stable equilibrium in which all species coexist to partial coexistence to emergence of persistent fluctuations in species abundances, in the order predicted by theory. Under fixed conditions, high biodiversity and fluctuations reinforce each other. Our results demonstrate predictable emergent patterns of diversity and dynamics in ecological communities.
Source: Science
Institutions: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, Université de Montpellier, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Station d’Écologie Théorique et Expérimentale, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Plant Health Institute de Montpellier, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Nature and Landscape Conservation
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4302425405