Self-organized biodiversity and species abundance distribution patterns in ecosystems with higher-order interactions

Understanding the vast biodiversity observed in nature remains a fundamental issue in ecology. While classical theories have long assumed that species interact in simple pairs, real ecosystems are shaped by more complex, higher-order interactions (HOIs) involving multiple species simultaneously. Here, we show that incorporating these HOIs into ecological models not only prevents ecosystem collapse but actively stabilizes communities and maintains self-organized biodiversity. Our approach reveals how such interactions give rise to self-sustaining oscillations, quasi-periodic dynamics, and intermittent chaos, mirroring the rich variability seen in natural systems. Crucially, the model successfully reproduces real-world species abundance patterns, providing a quantitative explanation for how complex interactions maintain ecological diversity. These findings establish HOIs as a key mechanism organizing biodiversity and offer a transformative perspective for understanding ecosystem complexity.