Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
Ecol Lett. 2005 May;8(5):513-23. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00742.x.
The dynamics of ecological systems include a bewildering number of biotic interactions that unfold over a vast range of spatial scales. Here, employing simple and general empirical arguments concerning the nature of movement, trophic position and behaviour we outline a general theory concerning the role of space and food web structure on food web stability. We argue that consumers link food webs in space and that this spatial structure combined with relatively rapid behavioural responses by consumers can strongly influence the dynamics of food webs. Employing simple spatially implicit food web models, we show that large mobile consumers are inordinately important in determining the stability, or lack of it, in ecosystems. More specifically, this theory suggests that mobile higher order organisms are potent stabilizers when embedded in a variable, and expansive spatial structure. However, when space is compressed and higher order consumers strongly couple local habitats then mobile consumers can have an inordinate destabilizing effect. Preliminary empirical arguments show consistency with this general theory.
生态系统的动态包括大量在广阔的空间尺度上展开的生物相互作用。在这里，我们运用关于运动、营养级和行为本质的简单而通用的经验论据，概述了一个关于空间和食物网结构对食物网稳定性作用的一般理论。我们认为消费者在空间上连接食物网，这种空间结构加上消费者相对较快的行为反应，可以强烈影响食物网的动态。通过使用简单的空间隐含食物网模型，我们表明大型移动消费者在确定生态系统的稳定性或缺乏稳定性方面非常重要。更具体地说，这一理论表明，当嵌入在可变且广阔的空间结构中时，移动的高级生物是强大的稳定因素。然而，当空间被压缩并且高级消费者强烈耦合局部栖息地时，移动消费者可能会产生过度的不稳定性影响。初步的经验论据表明，这一一般理论具有一致性。
