TY  - JOUR
A1  - Emary, Clive
A1  - Malchow, Anne-Kathleen
T1  - Stability-instability transition in tripartite merged ecological networks
JF  - Journal of mathematical biology
N2  - Although ecological networks are typically constructed based on a single type of interaction, e.g. trophic interactions in a food web, a more complete picture of ecosystem composition and functioning arises from merging networks of multiple interaction types. In this work, we consider tripartite networks constructed by merging two bipartite networks, one mutualistic and one antagonistic. Taking the interactions within each sub-network to be distributed randomly, we consider the stability of the dynamics of the network based on the spectrum of its community matrix. In the asymptotic limit of a large number of species, we show that the spectrum undergoes an eigenvalue phase transition, which leads to an abrupt destabilisation of the network as the ratio of mutualists to antagonists is increased. We also derive results that show how this transition is manifest in networks of finite size, as well as when disorder is introduced in the segregation of the two interaction types. Our random-matrix results will serve as a baseline for understanding the behaviour of merged networks with more realistic structures and/or more detailed dynamics.
KW  - Random matrices
KW  - Phase transition
KW  - Random eigenvalues
KW  - Population dynamics
KW  - Community matrix
KW  - Ecological network
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00285-022-01783-7
SN  - 0303-6812
SN  - 1432-1416
VL  - 85
IS  - 3
PB  - Springer
CY  - Heidelberg
ER  -