title: Why nestedness in mutualistic networks?
abstract: We investigate the relationship between the nested organization of mutualistic systems and their robustness against the extinction of species. We establish that a nested pattern of contacts is the best possible one as far as robustness is concerned, but only when the least linked species have the greater probability of becoming extinct. We introduce a coefficient that provides a quantitative measure of the robustness of a mutualistic system.
authors: Departamento de Física, Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, Avenida del Libertador 8250, C1429BNP Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors: Enrique
authors: E
authors: Burgos
authors: Horacio
authors: H
authors: Ceva
authors: Roberto P J
authors: RP
authors: Perazzo
authors: Mariano
authors: M
authors: Devoto
authors: Diego
authors: D
authors: Medan
authors: Martín
authors: M
authors: Zimmermann
authors: Ana
authors: A
authors: María Delbue
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D017753:Ecosystem; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D006126:Group Processes; D008954:Models, Biological; D013045:Species Specificity