Emergence of structural and dynamical properties of ecological mutualistic networks

Mutualistic networks are formed when the interactions between two classes of species are mutually beneficial. They are important examples of cooperation shaped by evolution. Mutualism between animals and plants plays a key role in the organization of ecological communities1-3. Such networks in ecology have generically evolved a nested architecture4,5 independent of species composition and latitude6,7 - specialists interact with proper subsets of the nodes with whom generalists interact1. Despite sustained efforts5,8,9,10 to explain observed network structure on the basis of community-level stability or persistence, such correlative studies have reached minimal consensus11,12,13. Here we demo