A competitive network theory of species diversity
Stefano Allesina a,1 and Jonathan M. Levine b
Author Affiliations
aDepartment of Ecology and Evolution, Computation Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637; and
bDepartment of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Edited by Simon A. Levin, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, and approved February 4, 2011 (received for review September 27, 2010)
Abstract
Nonhierarchical competition between species has been proposed as a potential mechanism for biodiversity maintenance, but theoretical and empirical research has thus far concentrated on systems composed of relatively few species. Here we develop a theory of biodiversity based on a network representation of competition for systems with large numbers of competitors. All species pairs are connected by an arrow from the inferior to the superior. Using game theory, we show how the equilibrium density of all species can be derived from the structure of the network. We show that when species are limited by multiple factors, the coexistence of a large number of species is the most probable outcome and that habitat heterogeneity interacts with network structure to favor diversity.
competitive exclusion, rock-paper-scissor, neutral theory, niche theory
Footnotes
1To whom correspondence should be addressed.
E-mail:sallesina@uchicago.edu.
Author contributions: S.A. and J.M.L. designed research; S.A. performed research; S.A. analyzed data; and S.A. and J.M.L. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
This article contains supporting information online at
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