How do repeated interactions lead to stable ecostructures in ecosystems?

Repeated interactions lead to stable ecostructures in ecosystems by creating intricate feedback loops, heterogeneity in interactions, and stabilizing dynamics over space and time. These mechanisms allow complex communities to remain resilient and diverse rather than collapsing into unstable or oversimplified states.

Key processes include:

• Locality and Structure: When interactions are not random but local—meaning species or individuals only interact within a certain area or with a subset of others—this spatial structure promotes stable coexistence. Localized, repeated interactions allow dominance loops and prevent runaway dynamics that would otherwise destabilize the ecosystem1.

• Balancing Feedback Loops: Many repeated interactions, such as predator-prey cycles, create feedback loops. For example, as prey populations rise, predator populations also rise, which then reduce the prey, which in turn reduces predators, and so forth. These balancing feedbacks help ecosystems return to a dynamic equilibrium after disturbances, maintaining overall stability5.

• Spatial Heterogeneity and Migration: Ecosystems with spatially distributed "patches" and connection through migration enable fluctuating—but bounded—species populations. When local populations dip dangerously low, migrants from other patches can "rescue" them. This asynchronous fluctuation across different locations supports long-term species persistence amid high diversity3.

• Interaction Heterogeneity: Variability in interaction strengths—even among members of the same species—can stabilize systems. For example, if prey populations consist of subgroups with different susceptibilities to predators, all groups may persist at equilibrium, allowing multiple predators and more stable coexistence4.

• Emergence of Robust Structures: These combined multi-level, repeated interactions and feedbacks generate ecostructures—persistent, self-organizing networks of relationships and population levels across space and time, rather than a simple fixed-point equilibrium31.

In sum, it is the ongoing, repeated, and structured interactions—across space, types, and functional groups—that allow ecosystems to build stable yet dynamic architectures (“ecostructures”) characterized by high biodiversity and resilience1345.

Caveat: While these principles are broadly validated, the specific contributions and importance of each mechanism can vary greatly between different types of ecosystems. Some details (such as exact thresholds for stability, or the role of migration rates) may be system-dependent and require empirical confirmation.

1. https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevE.106.064307
2. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2015.2592
3. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7228057/
4. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-28473-8
5. https://www.regenerativeeconomics.earth/regenerative-economics-textbook/1-introduction-to-the-economy/1-2-ecology-and-the-economy/1-2-5-ecosystems-interactions-energy-and-stability
6. https://uwaterloo.ca/earth-sciences-museum/educational-resources/just-kids/ecosystem-interactions-and-change
7. https://www.gy4es.org/post/ecological-interactions-a-deep-dive-into-species-interactions
8. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195925510000600
9. https://ac4.climate.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/2014%20Fisher%20Handbook%20Chapter%20c55-ManagingEnvironmentalConflict.pdf