Ecosystems on the brink.

• Autores: Carl Zimmer
• Localización: Scientific American, ISSN 0036-8733, Vol. 307, Nº. 4, 2012, págs. 60-65
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The article discusses the ecological dynamics of food webs and the use of mathematical modeling in ecological analysis. Topics include an experiment by ecologist Stephen Carpenter which involved the introduction of largemouth bass into a lake, how mathematical models can reveal connections in complicated food webs and even predict food web flipping and collapse, and how anthropogenic stresses and disturbances in ecosystems threaten to precipitate abrupt changes in the environment. Additional information is presented on the results of food web simulations, including how webs consist of many weak connections, and theories about top-down web control by a fraction of animals.