December 22, 2014

Ecosystems need maths not random nature to survive



A previously unknown mathematical property has been found to be behind one of nature’s greatest mysteries – how ecosystems survive.

Found in nature and common to all ecosystems the property, Trophic Coherence, is a measure of how plant and animal life interact within the food web of each ecosystem – providing scientists with the first ever mathematical understanding of their architecture and how food webs are able to grow larger while also becoming more stable.