Hypergraphs in ecology link non-equilibrium dynamics and conservation

Ecosystems in the Anthropocene are shaped by rapid environmental change, species loss and disturbance. Many ecological interactions depend on specific combinations of species and environmental conditions, forming feasible interacting sets that cannot be represented by simple links. Here we review the role of hypergraphs, which capture higher-order interactions among biotic, abiotic and anthropogenic components, as a framework for describing such systems. Hypergraphs clarify how ecological structure forms, fragments and reorganizes across time and space, and connect these dynamics to conservation applications including rewilding, habitat connectivity and restoration. Ecosystems in the Anthropocene exhibit complex dynamics that traditional ecological networks with pairwise interactions only partially capture. Here, the authors review hypergraphs as a framework for modeling higher-order interactions, showing how they clarify how ecological structures form and reorganize, with implications for conservation strategies including rewilding and habitat restoration aimed at sustaining biodiversity under rapid environmental change.