Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Population Growth00:57

Population Growth

29.4K
Population size is dynamic, increasing with birth rates and immigration, and decreasing with death rates and emigration. In ideal conditions with unlimited resources, populations can increase exponentially, which plots as a J-shaped growth rate curve of population size against time. This type of curve is characteristic of newly-introduced invasive species, or populations that have suffered catastrophic declines and are rebounding.
29.4K
Predator-Prey Interactions02:39

Predator-Prey Interactions

22.1K
Predators consume prey for energy. Predators that acquire prey and prey that avoid predation both increase their chances of survival and reproduction (i.e., fitness). Routine predator-prey interactions elicit mutual adaptations that improve predator offenses, such as claws, teeth, and speed, as well as prey defenses, including crypsis, aposematism, and mimicry. Thus, predator-prey interactions resemble an evolutionary arms race.
22.1K
Trophic Efficiency00:46

Trophic Efficiency

25.7K
Trophic level transfer efficiency (TLTE) is a measure of the total energy transfer from one trophic level to the next. Due to extensive energy loss as metabolic heat, an average of only 10% of the original energy obtained is passed on to the next level. This pattern of energy loss severely limits the possible number of trophic levels in a food chain.
25.7K
Trophic Levels01:35

Trophic Levels

38.4K
All organisms in an ecosystem occupy a trophic level in the food chain. The lowest level consists of primary producers, which synthesize their food from either solar or chemical energy. Each subsequent level obtains energy from the levels below. Detritivores can occupy any of the levels above primary producers.
38.4K
Optimal Foraging00:48

Optimal Foraging

14.2K
How animals obtain and eat their food is called foraging behavior. Foraging can include searching for plants and hunting for prey and depends on the species and environment.
14.2K
Second Law of Thermodynamics00:53

Second Law of Thermodynamics

70.2K
The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that entropy, or the amount of disorder in a system, increases each time energy is transferred or transformed. Each energy transfer results in a certain amount of energy that is lost—usually in the form of heat—that increases the disorder of the surroundings. This can also be demonstrated in a classic food web. Herbivores harvest chemical energy from plants and release heat and carbon dioxide into the environment. Carnivores harvest the...
70.2K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

FracFeed: Global database of the fraction of feeding predators.

Ecology·2026
Same author

In Defense of Type I Functional Responses: The Frequency and Population Dynamic Effects of Feeding on Multiple Prey at a Time.

The American naturalist·2025
Same author

Simple, Universal Rules Predict Trophic Interaction Strengths.

Ecology letters·2025
Same author

Body Mass-Biomass Scaling Modulates Species Keystone-Ness to Press Perturbations.

Ecology letters·2025
Same author

High variation in handling times confers 35-year stability to predator feeding rates despite community change.

Ecology·2022
Same author

Predator feeding rates may often be unsaturated under typical prey densities.

Ecology letters·2022
Same journal

Traffic Reduction during COVID-19 Lockdowns Benefited Species Already Tolerant of Noise Pollution: An Acoustic Analysis.

The American naturalist·2026
Same journal

On Pachycephalosaurs, Trade-Offs, and the Historical Genesis of Sociosexual Display Structures.

The American naturalist·2026
Same journal

Structured Landscapes Promote Persistence by Favoring Prudent Predators.

The American naturalist·2026
Same journal

Can Carbon Economy Explain Leaf Dynamic Seasonality in a Tropical Seasonal Rainforest?

The American naturalist·2026
Same journal

Behavior and Physiology Outpace Form When Linking Traits to Ecological Responses within Populations: A Meta-Analysis.

The American naturalist·2026
Same journal

Seminal Fluid Proteins as Regulation Factors for Optimizing Reproduction: A Modeling Approach.

The American naturalist·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 19, 2026

Modeling the Size Spectrum for Macroinvertebrates and Fishes in Stream Ecosystems
07:41

Modeling the Size Spectrum for Macroinvertebrates and Fishes in Stream Ecosystems

Published on: July 30, 2019

8.1K

Complexity Increases Predictability in Allometrically Constrained Food Webs.

Alison C Iles, Mark Novak

    The American Naturalist
    |June 21, 2016
    PubMed
    Summary
    This summary is machine-generated.

    Complex ecological networks, despite disturbances, become more predictable. Universal constraints cause interaction strengths to skew, favoring weak interactions and limiting how disturbances spread through ecosystems.

    Keywords:
    community matrixcomplexitynet-effects matrixnetworkspress perturbationsspecies interaction strengths

    More Related Videos

    Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila
    06:00

    Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila

    Published on: October 1, 2011

    14.5K
    Linking Predation Risk, Herbivore Physiological Stress and Microbial Decomposition of Plant Litter
    10:20

    Linking Predation Risk, Herbivore Physiological Stress and Microbial Decomposition of Plant Litter

    Published on: March 12, 2013

    14.1K

    Related Experiment Videos

    Last Updated: Mar 19, 2026

    Modeling the Size Spectrum for Macroinvertebrates and Fishes in Stream Ecosystems
    07:41

    Modeling the Size Spectrum for Macroinvertebrates and Fishes in Stream Ecosystems

    Published on: July 30, 2019

    8.1K
    Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila
    06:00

    Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila

    Published on: October 1, 2011

    14.5K
    Linking Predation Risk, Herbivore Physiological Stress and Microbial Decomposition of Plant Litter
    10:20

    Linking Predation Risk, Herbivore Physiological Stress and Microbial Decomposition of Plant Litter

    Published on: March 12, 2013

    14.1K

    Area of Science:

    • Ecology
    • Ecological Network Analysis
    • Theoretical Ecology

    Background:

    • Ecosystems face chronic disturbances like climate change and pollution.
    • Predicting species' responses is difficult due to unknown interaction strengths and complex indirect effects.
    • Network complexity has been thought to decrease ecological predictability.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To investigate how network complexity influences the predictability of ecological systems under disturbance.
    • To demonstrate a mechanism where increasing network complexity enhances predictability.
    • To explore the role of allometric constraints in ecological interactions.

    Main Methods:

    • Analysis of ecological network structure and species interaction strengths.
    • Modeling the propagation of disturbances through networks of varying complexity.
    • Investigating the impact of universal allometric constraints on interaction strength distributions.

    Main Results:

    • Increasing network complexity, under allometric constraints, leads to a decline in the influence of indirect effects.
    • Network size and connectance interact to create a skewed distribution of interaction strengths, more pronounced in complex networks.
    • Complex networks exhibit more weak interactions and fewer, stronger interactions, limiting disturbance propagation.

    Conclusions:

    • Ecological network complexity can enhance predictability by limiting disturbance propagation.
    • Universal allometric constraints play a key role in structuring interaction strengths and maintaining ecosystem stability.
    • The findings challenge the notion that complex ecological systems are inherently unpredictable.