title: Stability and feedback levels in food web models.
abstract: Neutel & Thorne (Ecology Letters, 17:651-661, June 2014) provide an approximation for the leading eigenvalue of a food web community matrix involving coefficients of its characteristic polynomial. Though valuably incorporating three-way species interactions, two critical problems emerge when one considers the dimensions of the system, calling the approach's accuracy and precision into question.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology & Evolution, University of Chicago, 1101 E 57th Street, Chicago, IL, 60302, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology & Evolution, University of Chicago, 1101 E 57th Street, Chicago, IL, 60302, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sander
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology & Evolution, University of Chicago, 1101 E 57th Street, Chicago, IL, 60302, USA.
authors.forename: György
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barabás
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology & Evolution, University of Chicago, 1101 E 57th Street, Chicago, IL, 60302, USA.|Computation Institute, University of Chicago, 5735 S Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Allesina
mesh_terms: D004463:Ecology / Q000379:methods; D020387:Food Chain; D008954:Models, Biological
keywords: Complexity; food webs; negative feedback loop; population dynamics; stability