How structured is the entangled bank? The surprisingly simple organization of multiplex ecological networks leads to increased persistence and resilience

Species are linked to each other by a myriad of positive and negative interactions. This complex spectrum of interactions constitutes a network of links that mediates ecological communities’ response to perturbations, such as exploitation and climate change. In the last decades, there have been great advances in the study of intricate ecological networks. We have, nonetheless, lacked both the data and the tools to more rigorously understand the patterning of multiple interaction types between species (i.e., “multiplex networks”), as well as their consequences for community dynamics. Using network statistical modeling applied to a comprehensive ecological network, which includes trophic and diverse non-trophic links, we provide a first glimpse at what the full “entangled bank” of species looks like. The community exhibits clear multidimensional structure, which is taxonomically coherent and broadly predictable from species traits. Moreover, dynamic simulations suggest that this non-rando...物种之间通过无数正向与负向的相互作用彼此关联。这类复杂多样的相互作用构成了关联网络，介导生态群落对各类干扰的响应——包括资源开发与气候变化等。近数十年来，针对复杂生态网络的研究已取得显著进展。然而，我们此前始终缺乏足够的数据与研究工具，难以严谨解析物种间多种相互作用类型的分布模式（即「多重网络（multiplex networks）」），以及这些模式对群落动态的影响。我们通过针对涵盖营养联系与多种非营养联系的综合生态网络开展网络统计建模，首次揭示了完整的「物种交织群落（entangled bank）」的样貌。该生态群落呈现出清晰的多维结构，该结构在分类学上具有一致性，且可通过物种性状进行大范围预测。此外，动态模拟结果表明，该非随机构...