Statistical mechanics of ecosystem assembly

Abstract

We introduce a toy model of ecosystem assembly for which we are able to map out all assembly pathways generated by external invasions. The model allows to display the whole phase space in the form of an assembly graph whose nodes are communities of species and whose directed links are transitions between them induced by invasions. We characterize the process as a finite Markov chain and prove that it exhibits a unique set of recurrent states (the endstate of the process), which is therefore resistant to invasions. This also shows that the endstate is independent on the assembly history. The model shares all features with standard assembly models reported in the literature, with the advantage that all observables can be computed in an exact manner.

Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters

References in corpus (1)

• The shape of ecological networks

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Species assembly in model ecosystems, I: Analysis of the population model and the invasion dynamics
• Species assembly in model ecosystems, II: Results of the assembly process
• Structural dynamics of plant-pollinator mutualistic networks
• Follow the fugitive: an application of the method of images to open dynamical systems
• Catastrophic regime shifts in model ecological communities are true phase transitions
• Reachability Analysis for Lexicase Selection via Community Assembly Graphs
• Communities as cliques
• Patterns of Patterns