Nested structure acquired through simple evolutionary process

作者：Takemoto Kazuhiro^*; Arita Masanori

来源：Journal of Theoretical Biology, 2010, 264(3): 782-786.

DOI：10.1016/j.jtbi.2010.03.029

• Nestedness
• Heterogeneous connectivity
• Plant-animal mutualism
• Bipartite graph model
• Evolution

Nested structure, which is non-random, controls cooperation dynamics and biodiversity in plant-animal mutualistic networks. This structural pattern has been explained in a static (non-growth) network models. However, evolutionary processes might also influence the formation of such a structural pattern. We thereby propose an evolving network model for plant-animal interactions and show that non-random patterns such as nested structure and heterogeneous connectivity are both qualitatively and quantitatively predicted through simple evolutionary processes. This finding implies that network models can be simplified by considering evolutionary processes, and also that another explanation exists for the emergence of non-random patterns and might provide more comprehensible insights into the formation of plant-animal mutualistic networks from the evolutionary perspective.

• 出版日期2010-6-7