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Structural stability estimated through critical perturbation determines evolutionary persistence in mutualistic model ecosystems

Miguel Lurgi Rivera Orcid Logo, Alberto Pascual-García Orcid Logo

Royal Society Open Science, Volume: 12, Issue: 8, Start page: 250123

Swansea University Author: Miguel Lurgi Rivera Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1098/rsos.250123

Abstract

Understanding the factors that influence the persistence and stability of complex ecological networks is a central focus of ecological research. Recent research into these factors has predominantly attempted to unveil the ecological processes and structural constraints that influence network stabili...

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Published in: Royal Society Open Science
ISSN: 2054-5703
Published: The Royal Society 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70118
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last_indexed 2025-08-07T08:12:56Z
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spelling 2025-08-06T09:46:24.9206248 v2 70118 2025-08-06 Structural stability estimated through critical perturbation determines evolutionary persistence in mutualistic model ecosystems 947df89d116a1ab75515e421089e0443 0000-0001-9891-895X Miguel Lurgi Rivera Miguel Lurgi Rivera true false 2025-08-06 BGPS Understanding the factors that influence the persistence and stability of complex ecological networks is a central focus of ecological research. Recent research into these factors has predominantly attempted to unveil the ecological processes and structural constraints that influence network stability. Comparatively little attention has been given to the consequences of evolutionary events, despite the fact that the interplay between ecology and evolution has been recognized as fundamental to understand the formation of ecological communities and predict their reaction to change. We extend existing mutualistic population dynamical models by incorporating evolutionary adaptation events to address this critical gap. We relate ecological aspects of mutualistic community stability to the stability of persistent evolutionary pathways. Our findings highlight the significance of the structural stability of ecological systems in predicting biodiversity loss under both evolutionary and environmental changes, particularly in relation to species-level selection. Notably, our simulations reveal that the evolution of mutualistic networks tends to increase a network-dependent parameter termed critical competition, which places systems in a regime in which mutualistic interactions enhance structural stability and, consequently, biodiversity. This research emphasizes the pivotal role of natural selection in shaping ecological networks, steering them towards reduced effective competition below a critical threshold where mutualistic interactions foster stability in the face of environmental change. Journal Article Royal Society Open Science 12 8 250123 The Royal Society 2054-5703 eco-evolutionary dynamics, mutualistic networks, structural stability, evolutionary stability, biodiversity loss 6 8 2025 2025-08-06 10.1098/rsos.250123 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences Geography and Physics School COLLEGE CODE BGPS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee M.L. was supported by the French ANR through LabEx TULIP (ANR-10-LABX-41; ANR-11-IDEX-002-02), by a Region Midi-Pyrénées Project (CNRS 121090), and by the FRAGCLIM Consolidator Grant, funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement number 726176). A.P.G. was funded by a Ramón y Cajal Fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (RyC2021-032424-I), and by CSIC intramural project 20232AT031. 2025-08-06T09:46:24.9206248 2025-08-06T09:39:37.5996962 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Miguel Lurgi Rivera 0000-0001-9891-895X 1 Alberto Pascual-García 0000-0002-8444-3196 2 70118__34915__bbaca310dc7f45d5becb6a43a217e973.pdf rsos.250123.pdf 2025-08-06T09:39:37.5669277 Output 2484244 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Structural stability estimated through critical perturbation determines evolutionary persistence in mutualistic model ecosystems
spellingShingle Structural stability estimated through critical perturbation determines evolutionary persistence in mutualistic model ecosystems
Miguel Lurgi Rivera
title_short Structural stability estimated through critical perturbation determines evolutionary persistence in mutualistic model ecosystems
title_full Structural stability estimated through critical perturbation determines evolutionary persistence in mutualistic model ecosystems
title_fullStr Structural stability estimated through critical perturbation determines evolutionary persistence in mutualistic model ecosystems
title_full_unstemmed Structural stability estimated through critical perturbation determines evolutionary persistence in mutualistic model ecosystems
title_sort Structural stability estimated through critical perturbation determines evolutionary persistence in mutualistic model ecosystems
author_id_str_mv 947df89d116a1ab75515e421089e0443
author_id_fullname_str_mv 947df89d116a1ab75515e421089e0443_***_Miguel Lurgi Rivera
author Miguel Lurgi Rivera
author2 Miguel Lurgi Rivera
Alberto Pascual-García
format Journal article
container_title Royal Society Open Science
container_volume 12
container_issue 8
container_start_page 250123
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 2054-5703
doi_str_mv 10.1098/rsos.250123
publisher The Royal Society
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
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description Understanding the factors that influence the persistence and stability of complex ecological networks is a central focus of ecological research. Recent research into these factors has predominantly attempted to unveil the ecological processes and structural constraints that influence network stability. Comparatively little attention has been given to the consequences of evolutionary events, despite the fact that the interplay between ecology and evolution has been recognized as fundamental to understand the formation of ecological communities and predict their reaction to change. We extend existing mutualistic population dynamical models by incorporating evolutionary adaptation events to address this critical gap. We relate ecological aspects of mutualistic community stability to the stability of persistent evolutionary pathways. Our findings highlight the significance of the structural stability of ecological systems in predicting biodiversity loss under both evolutionary and environmental changes, particularly in relation to species-level selection. Notably, our simulations reveal that the evolution of mutualistic networks tends to increase a network-dependent parameter termed critical competition, which places systems in a regime in which mutualistic interactions enhance structural stability and, consequently, biodiversity. This research emphasizes the pivotal role of natural selection in shaping ecological networks, steering them towards reduced effective competition below a critical threshold where mutualistic interactions foster stability in the face of environmental change.
published_date 2025-08-06T05:31:43Z
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