Diversity begets stability: Sublinear growth and competitive coexistence across ecosystems. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38484074/)

These scientists wanted to understand why having many different species in an ecosystem is important for keeping it healthy and stable. They looked at how different species grow and interact with each other in nature.

They discovered that when species grow in a certain way, called a sublinear power law with biomass, it helps them regulate their populations better. This means that even when there are many different species competing for resources, they can coexist without one species taking over completely.

Their research showed that having a diverse ecosystem with species that grow in this special way can actually make the ecosystem more stable. However, they also found that if we lose too many species, it could make ecosystems less stable and more likely to change in unpredictable ways.

So, these scientists found that having a variety of species in an ecosystem is like having a team where each player has a special role to keep everything in balance. If we lose too many players, the team might not work as well together.

Hatton IA., Mazzarisi O., Altieri A., Smerlak M. Diversity begets stability: Sublinear growth and competitive coexistence across ecosystems. Science. 2024 Mar 15;383(6688):eadg8488. doi: 10.1126/science.adg8488. Epub 2024 Mar 15.