Food web complexity and community dynamics

This critical review challenges the notion that ecosystems are neatly organized into discrete trophic levels. Real food webs are continuous networks with omnivores feeding at multiple levels, complex indirect interactions, and keystone species whose effects span modular boundaries.

This paper supports the chapter's important caveat that modularity represents an analytical tool for managing complexity, but real systems rarely exhibit perfect modularity. The value lies in understanding where modular thinking helps and where integration and network effects dominate - a lesson directly applicable to organizational design.