The Geometry of Evolved Community Matrix Spectra

Overview

Journal Sci Rep

Specialty Science

Date 2022 Aug 29

PMID 36038623

Authors

Silja Borring Lastad

Jan O Haerter

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Random matrix theory has been applied to food web stability for decades, implying elliptical eigenvalue spectra and that large food webs should be unstable. Here we allow feasible food webs to self-assemble within an evolutionary process, using simple Lotka-Volterra equations and several elementary interaction types. We show that, as complex food webs evolve under [Formula: see text] invasion attempts, the community matrix spectra become bi-modal, rather than falling onto elliptical geometries. Our results raise questions as to the applicability of random matrix theory to the analysis of food web steady states.

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