Will a large complex model ecosystem be viable? The essential role of positive interactions

Ecologists have documented many characteristics of natural systems that foster ecosystem persistence, and it might be deduced that such strategies are essential for counteracting the negative effect of complexity on local stability that was suggested by R.M. May in his influential work of the 1970s. However, we show that the loss of local stability does not necessarily imply total ecosystem extinction. A more general criterion of ecosystem viability is the long-term persistence of any number of surviving species—not necessarily all of them. With this approach, we show that persistence increases with complexity, contrary to previous theoretical findings. In particular, positive interactions (mutualistic or prey-to-predator) play a crucial role in creating ecological niches, which sustain biodiversity with increasing complexity.