Biodiversity, extinctions, and evolution of ecosystems with shared resources.

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Theoretical Ecology
• Biodiversity Science

Background:

• Understanding the formation and stability of ecological networks is crucial for predicting ecosystem responses to environmental changes.
• Species interactions and resource competition are key drivers of ecosystem structure and biodiversity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the formation of stable ecological networks with shared resources.
• To analytically determine the number of coexisting species and predict extinction dynamics.
• To introduce and analyze a novel stress parameter influencing ecosystem convergence and biodiversity.

Main Methods:

• Development of a theoretical model for ecological networks with shared resources.
• Derivation of analytical relationships for species coexistence and extinction.
• Introduction and analysis of a stress parameter combining species traits and resource characteristics.

Main Results:

• Stable ecological networks naturally arise as a consequence of species extinctions.
• An analytical relation for the number of coexisting species was established.
• A novel stress parameter was introduced, quantifying extinction pressure and determining final biodiversity.
• High stress levels lead to the concentration of species traits, indicating convergence.

Conclusions:

• Extinctions play a fundamental role in shaping stable, coexisting ecological networks.
• The developed stress parameter effectively predicts biodiversity levels and system convergence under environmental change.
• The dynamics of these stable limit systems can be simplified using differential equations, offering predictive power for ecosystem stability.