The adaptive capacity of food webs in a noisy world

Background/Question/Methods

Ecological systems are notoriously variable. Despite this, much research in food web theory has considered the topological structure of ecosystems as a static snapshot. Here, I instead consider both theory and empirical data from a non-equilibrium perspective, searching for ideas and empirical patterns that give us ideas how nature is able to respond to variation ans what these reponses mean in terms of stability and community structure. towards this goal, I synthesize a number of recent empirical and theoretical papers to argue that food-web dynamics are characterized by high amounts of spatial and temporal variability and that organisms tend to respond predictably, via behaviour, to these changing conditions. 

Results/Conclusions

Empirical evidence suggests that underlying attributes of food webs are potentially scale-invariant such that food webs are characterized by hump-shaped trophic structures with the differentially strong pathways that repeat at different resolutions within the food web. I argue that recent food-web theory shows that these adaptable food-web structure confer stability to an assemblage of interacting organisms in a variable world. Finally, I show that recent food-web analyses agree with two of the major predictions of this theory. I argue that the next major frontier in food-web theory and applied food-web ecology must consider the influence of variability on food-web structure and the role behavior plays in mediating variability within a food web/ecosystem context.