A theoretical study on the environmental determinants of food-web evolution

什么样的环境因素决定了食物链的长度（食物网中营养级的数量）？虽然以前的假设认为初级生产力，干扰，或生态系统的大小作为一个重要的决定因素，最近的实证工作往往会发现一个强大的影响生态系统的大小。我们使用了一个数学模型，将所有三个潜在的决定因素，以显示最强的影响生态系统的大小。这一理论解释了现有的经验模式，并可能有助于渔业和农业生态系统的管理。

What environmental factors determine food-chain length (the number of trophic levels in food webs)? While previous hypotheses consider primary productivity, disturbance, or ecosystem size as an important determinant, recent empirical works tend to find a strong effect of ecosystem size. We used a mathematical model incorporating all three potential determinants to show the strongest influence of ecosystem size. This theory explains the existing empirical pattern, and may be useful for the management of fishery and agricultural ecosystems.