Persistence of a stage-structured food-web

Contrary to a theoretical prediction, natural communities comprise many interacting species, thereby developing complex ecosystems. Earlier theoretical studies assumed that each component species within an ecological network has a simple life history, despite the fact that the interaction partners of many species, such as their predators and resources, change during the developmental stages. This poses an open question on the effect of life history complexity on the dynamics of communities. Here using a food web model, I showed that species with a stage-structured life cycle greatly changes the relationship between community complexity and persistence. Without stage-structured species, an increase in species diversity and interaction links decreases the community persistence, whereas in the presence of stage-structured species, community complexity can increase the community persistence. Therefore, life history complexity may be a key element of biodiversity that is self-maintaining.