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Energetic constraints shape the diversity of feasible ecological networks
Fig 4
Probabilities of maturation and average diversity across full and partial coexistence.
We extended the analysis from only full coexistence to all candidate communities for model networks with size S = 6. For each network, all 
candidate communities were enumerated and grouped by community size 1 ≤ D ≤ 6, with 
communities in each size class. For each candidate community, we computed the probability of maturation over 500 logarithmically spaced values of total energy supply 
. Panel A was summarized using the logit-based functional data analysis described in Methods, whereas panel B was summarized on the original richness scale after interpolation onto the same common Q grid. Each panel represents 100 independent network realizations. A Expected probability of maturation as a function of total energy supply for different community sizes. Across all sizes, probability of maturation retains a unimodal relationship with energy supply, but the corresponding energetic window shifts upwards as community size increases. B Average diversity, defined as the expected community size weighted by both the number of candidate communities (
) and their mean probabilities of maturation (PM(Q)) at each D. Although medium-sized communities (
) have low mean probability of maturation, they are both combinatorially numerous and favored at intermediate energy windows. Due to this contribution, average diversity peaks at an intermediate Q lower than the Qopt for full coexistence.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014330.g004