Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Why nestedness in mutualistic networks?

2007; Elsevier BV; Volume: 249; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jtbi.2007.07.030

1095-8541

Enrique Burgos, Horacio Ceva, R.P.J. Perazzo, Mariano Devoto, Diego Medán, Martín Zimmermann, Ana M. Delbue,

Complex Network Analysis Techniques

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.