Simplicity in high-dimensional dynamics of ecosystems

Natural ecosystems exhibit astounding richness, suggesting that we treat them as many-variable interacting systems. This raises two important questions: What collective phenomena might be observed? And how do such complex dynamical systems allow for many species to coexist? I’ll first discuss dynamical phase-transitions in ecosystems, and “thermodynamic” variables which determine their large-scale behavior. Then, I’ll present a theory for how interactions between species organize to allow many species to coexist. For both parts, data from experiments confirm the theoretical predictions, providing evidence for high-dimensionality in those systems.