The roles of amensalistic and commensalistic interactions in large ecological network stability.

ABSTRACT: Ecological communities comprise diverse species and their interactions. Notably, ecological and evolutionary studies have revealed that reciprocal interactions such as predator-prey, competition, and mutualism, are key drivers of community dynamics. However, there is an argument that many species interactions are asymmetric, where one species unilaterally affects another species (amensalism or commensalism). This raises the unanswered question of what is the role of unilateral interactions in community dynamics. Here I use a theoretical approach to demonstrate that unilateral interactions greatly enhance community stability. The results suggested that amensalism and commensalism were more stabilizing than symmetrical interactions, such as competition and mutualism, but they were less stabi

SUBMITTER: Mougi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4942820 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature