The complexity and stability of ecosystems | Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO)

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Citation
Tags

HERO ID

2201

Reference Type

Journal Article

Subtype

Review

Title

The complexity and stability of ecosystems

Author(s)

Pimm, SL

Year

1984

Is Peer Reviewed?

Journal

Nature
ISSN: 0028-0836
EISSN: 1476-4687

Volume

307

Issue

5949

Page Numbers

321-326

DOI

10.1038/307321a0

Web of Science Id

WOS:A1984SA08600031

URL

http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/307321a0
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Abstract

Early studies suggested that simple ecosystems were less stable than complex ones, but later studies came to the opposite conclusion. Confusion arose because of the many different meanings of ‘complexity’ and ‘stability’. Most of the possible questions about the relationship between stability–complexity have not been asked. Those that have yield a variety of answers.