Criticality and scaling in evolutionary ecology

RV Sole*, SC Manrubia, MJ Benton, S Kauffman, P Bak

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

159 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Fluctuations in ecological systems are known to involve a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, often displaying self similar (fractal) properties. Recent theoretical approaches are trying to shed light on the nature of these complex dynamics. The results suggest that complexity in ecology and evolution comes from the network-like structure of multispecies communities that are close to instability. If true, these ideas might change our understanding of how complexity emerges in the biosphere and how macroevolutionary events could be decoupled from microevolutionary ones.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)156-160
Number of pages5
JournalTrends in Ecology and Evolution
Volume14
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - Apr 1999

Keywords

  • SELF-ORGANIZED CRITICALITY
  • EXTINCTION
  • MODEL
  • CHAOS
  • LAWS

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Criticality and scaling in evolutionary ecology'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this