Changing relative intrinsic growth rates of species alter the stability of species communities

Abstract

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IntroductionIt is perplexing when species-rich ecosystems change abruptly and, for example, dominant or economically interesting species populations collapse. Although various aspects of such ecosystem regime shift at tipping points have been studied, little attention has been paid to the possible dependence of community stability on the intrinsic growth rates of their species. Intrinsic growth rates of species can vary, e.g., due to evolution, environmental changes or fluctuations, disturbances, or human influences such as exploitation of certain species.MethodsWe analyse theoretically and computationally the stability behaviour of the n-species Lotka–Volterra competition model.Results and discussionDepending on the competitive strengths of the species, changes in the relative intrinsic growth rates of competing species have a strong effect on community stability.

Keywords

• Lotka–Volterra competition model
• relative intrinsic growth rate
• community stability
• stability change
• feasibility