生態(tài)學(xué)家所面臨的一個中心問題是,，捕食者與獵物之間的相互作用怎樣影響整個生態(tài)系統(tǒng),？比如說,，旅鼠和它們的捕食者之間的周期動態(tài)為什么是受捕食者對旅鼠（作為其食物）的喜好,、而不是對其他獵物的喜好影響的,？
加州大學(xué)的Matthew Holland 和 Alan Hastings利用一個數(shù)值模型發(fā)現(xiàn),，集中關(guān)注在生態(tài)學(xué)上具有相關(guān)性的相互作用（即關(guān)注相互作用較強的小型生態(tài)系統(tǒng)）,，將有可能模擬有利于捕食者與獵物的周期不同步、瞬間動態(tài)延長的生態(tài)系統(tǒng),，正如生態(tài)學(xué)家在自然界所觀察到的那樣,。這一發(fā)現(xiàn)的一個含義是，連接斷斷續(xù)續(xù)生境碎片的生態(tài)走廊應(yīng)有一定程度的非對稱性,，與自然環(huán)境相似,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Nature 456, 792-794 (11 December 2008) | doi:10.1038/nature07395
Strong effect of dispersal network structure on ecological dynamics
Matthew D. Holland1 & Alan Hastings1
1 Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616, USA
A central question in ecology with great importance for management, conservation and biological control is how changing connectivity affects the persistence and dynamics of interacting species. Researchers in many disciplines have used large systems of coupled oscillators to model the behaviour of a diverse array of fluctuating systems in nature1, 2, 3, 4. In the well-studied regime of weak coupling, synchronization is favoured by increases in coupling strength and large-scale network structures (for example 'small worlds') that produce short cuts and clustering5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Here we show that, by contrast, randomizing the structure of dispersal networks in a model of predators and prey tends to favour asynchrony and prolonged transient dynamics, with resulting effects on the amplitudes of population fluctuations. Our results focus on synchronization and dynamics of clusters in models, and on timescales, more appropriate for ecology, namely smaller systems with strong interactions outside the weak-coupling regime, rather than the better-studied cases of large, weakly coupled systems. In these smaller systems, the dynamics of transients and the effects of changes in connectivity can be well understood using a set of methods including numerical reconstructions of phase dynamics, examinations of cluster formation and the consideration of important aspects of cyclic dynamics, such as amplitude.
