Inferring species interactions in highly heterogeneous ecological communities and developing a robust, predictive theory of ecological stability remain major challenges because of both the data required and the complexity of the underlying interaction network. In this talk, I will present a high-dimensional version of the Lotka–Volterra model incorporating demographic fluctuations and heterogeneous interactions among species [1].

I will then explore its relevance to the human gut microbiome. Through dataset analysis from healthy individuals and patients with inflammatory bowel disease, I will show that distinct physiological states of the gut microbiome map onto different noise-driven and disorder-driven regimes of the Generalized Lotka-Volterra model [2].

Finally, I will discuss extensions beyond the standard logistic-growth and purely competitive frameworks that can promote coexistence [3-4], thereby offering a new perspective on the long-standing diversity–stability debate.
     
References
[1] A. Altieri, F. Roy, C. Cammarota, G. Biroli, Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 258301 (2021)
[2] J. Pasqualini, A. Maritan, A. Rinaldo, S. Facchin, E. V. Savarino, A. Altieri* & S. Suweis*, eLife 14, RP105948 (2026)
[3] I. Hatton, O. Mazzarisi, A. Altieri, M. Smerlak, Science 383 (2024)
[4] N. Patil, A. Altieri, arXiv:2607.24328 (2026)