Model food web mean path length and dominant eigenvalue as a function of nominal size and connectance.

<p>Each boxplot shows the median, 75th and 25th percentiles for each data set, with whiskers extending up to 1.5 times the interquartile range and any points falling outside that area being plotted individually. In (a) and (c), mean path length generally decreases with connectance, while the dominant eigenvalue shows a curvilinear pattern. In (b) and (d), both mean path length and dominant eigenvalue increase with web size. Together, these relationships largely account for the patterns in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0137829#pone.0137829.g002" target="_blank">Fig 2</a>. Red numbered dots show where real food webs fall on these graphs. Key: 1. Benguela ecosystem; 2. Bridge Brook Lake; 3. Canton Creek; 4. Coachella Valley; 5. Skipwith Pond; 6. St. Marks Seagrass; 7. St. Martin Island; 8. Stony Stream p.