May's Stability Limit — Random Food Web Simulator
Interactive generalized Lotka-Volterra food web: tune species count, connectance and interaction strength on a random multi-species community matrix and watch Robert May's complexity-stability criterion play out in real time.
A generalized Lotka-Volterra model extends the classic two-species predator-prey equations to an entire community: every species gets its own growth rate, its own self-limiting crowding term, and a web of random interactions with the rest of the community. This simulator builds exactly that — a random community matrix with tunable species count S, connectance C (the fraction of possible links that exist) and interaction strength σ — then integrates the real ODEs live so you can watch the population of every species rise, fall or crash. Robert May's 1972 complexity-stability criterion, σ√(SC) < d, predicts from the matrix alone whether the web should settle into a stable equilibrium or spiral into extinction cascades, and the live simulation lets you test that prediction against the actual dynamics in real time.
Adjust species count, connectance, and interaction strength to see how a random food web stabilizes or collapses.
3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install