The Google matrix controls the stability of structured ecological and biological networks
Lewi Stone1,2
1School of Mathematical and Geospatial Sciences, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia.
Abstract:
May's celebrated theoretical work of the 70's contradicted the established paradigm by demonstrating that complexity leads to instability in biological systems. Here May's random-matrix modelling approach is generalized to realistic large-scale webs of species interactions, be they structured by networks of competition, mutualism or both. Simple relationships are found to govern these otherwise intractable models, and control the parameter ranges for which biological systems are stable and feasible. Our analysis of model and real empirical networks is only achievable on introducing a simplifying Google-matrix reduction scheme, which in the process, yields a practical ecological eigenvalue stability index. These results provide an insight into how network topology, especially connectance, influences species stable coexistence. Constraints controlling feasibility (positive equilibrium populations) in these systems are found more restrictive than those controlling stability, helping explain the enigma of why many classes of feasible ecological models are nearly always stable.
Related Concept Videos
Stability of structures
Overview of Cell-Matrix Interactions
Multimachine Stability
In analyzing the system, the nodal equations represent the relationship between bus voltages, machine voltages, and machine currents. The nodal equation is given by:
Protein Networks
These interactions can be represented through maps depicting protein-protein interaction networks, represented as nodes and edges. Nodes are circles that are representative of a protein,...
Protein Networks
Role of Matrix Metalloproteases in Degradation of ECM


