The dimensionality of ecological networks

How many dimensions (trait‐axes) are required to predict whether two species interact? This unanswered question originated with the idea of ecological niches, and yet bears relevance today for understanding what determines network structure. Here, we analyse a set of 200 ecological networks, includi...

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Main Authors: Eklöf, A, Jacob, U., Kopp, J, Bosch, J., Castro Urgal, R., Chacoff, N.P, Dalsgaard, B., Sassi, Claudio de, Galetti, M, Guimarães, P.R, Lomáscolo, S.B, González, A.M.M, Pizo, M.A, Rader, M, Rodrigo, A, Tylianakis, Jason M., Vázquez, D.P., Allesina, S.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Wiley 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/95723
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author Eklöf, A
Jacob, U.
Kopp, J
Bosch, J.
Castro Urgal, R.
Chacoff, N.P
Dalsgaard, B.
Sassi, Claudio de
Galetti, M
Guimarães, P.R
Lomáscolo, S.B
González, A.M.M
Pizo, M.A
Rader, M
Rodrigo, A
Tylianakis, Jason M.
Vázquez, D.P.
Allesina, S.
author_browse Allesina, S.
Bosch, J.
Castro Urgal, R.
Chacoff, N.P
Dalsgaard, B.
Eklöf, A
Galetti, M
González, A.M.M
Guimarães, P.R
Jacob, U.
Kopp, J
Lomáscolo, S.B
Pizo, M.A
Rader, M
Rodrigo, A
Sassi, Claudio de
Tylianakis, Jason M.
Vázquez, D.P.
author_facet Eklöf, A
Jacob, U.
Kopp, J
Bosch, J.
Castro Urgal, R.
Chacoff, N.P
Dalsgaard, B.
Sassi, Claudio de
Galetti, M
Guimarães, P.R
Lomáscolo, S.B
González, A.M.M
Pizo, M.A
Rader, M
Rodrigo, A
Tylianakis, Jason M.
Vázquez, D.P.
Allesina, S.
author_sort Eklöf, A
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description How many dimensions (trait‐axes) are required to predict whether two species interact? This unanswered question originated with the idea of ecological niches, and yet bears relevance today for understanding what determines network structure. Here, we analyse a set of 200 ecological networks, including food webs, antagonistic and mutualistic networks, and find that the number of dimensions needed to completely explain all interactions is small ( < 10), with model selection favouring less than five. Using 18 high‐quality webs including several species traits, we identify which traits contribute the most to explaining network structure. We show that accounting for a few traits dramatically improves our understanding of the structure of ecological networks. Matching traits for resources and consumers, for example, fruit size and bill gape, are the most successful combinations. These results link ecologically important species attributes to large‐scale community structure.
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spelling CGSpace957232025-06-17T08:23:26Z The dimensionality of ecological networks Eklöf, A Jacob, U. Kopp, J Bosch, J. Castro Urgal, R. Chacoff, N.P Dalsgaard, B. Sassi, Claudio de Galetti, M Guimarães, P.R Lomáscolo, S.B González, A.M.M Pizo, M.A Rader, M Rodrigo, A Tylianakis, Jason M. Vázquez, D.P. Allesina, S. ecology How many dimensions (trait‐axes) are required to predict whether two species interact? This unanswered question originated with the idea of ecological niches, and yet bears relevance today for understanding what determines network structure. Here, we analyse a set of 200 ecological networks, including food webs, antagonistic and mutualistic networks, and find that the number of dimensions needed to completely explain all interactions is small ( < 10), with model selection favouring less than five. Using 18 high‐quality webs including several species traits, we identify which traits contribute the most to explaining network structure. We show that accounting for a few traits dramatically improves our understanding of the structure of ecological networks. Matching traits for resources and consumers, for example, fruit size and bill gape, are the most successful combinations. These results link ecologically important species attributes to large‐scale community structure. 2013-05 2018-07-03T11:03:29Z 2018-07-03T11:03:29Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/95723 en Limited Access Wiley Eklöf, A., Jacob, U., Kopp, J., Bosch, J., Castro-Urgal, R., Chacoff, N.P., Dalsgaard, B., de Sassi, C., Galetti, M., Guimarães, P.R., Lomáscolo, S.B., González, A.M.M., Pizo, M.A., Rader, M., Rodrigo, A., Tylianakis, J.M., Vázquez, D.P., Allesina, S. . 2013. The dimensionality of ecological networks Ecology Letters, 16 (5) : 577-583. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12081
spellingShingle ecology
Eklöf, A
Jacob, U.
Kopp, J
Bosch, J.
Castro Urgal, R.
Chacoff, N.P
Dalsgaard, B.
Sassi, Claudio de
Galetti, M
Guimarães, P.R
Lomáscolo, S.B
González, A.M.M
Pizo, M.A
Rader, M
Rodrigo, A
Tylianakis, Jason M.
Vázquez, D.P.
Allesina, S.
The dimensionality of ecological networks
title The dimensionality of ecological networks
title_full The dimensionality of ecological networks
title_fullStr The dimensionality of ecological networks
title_full_unstemmed The dimensionality of ecological networks
title_short The dimensionality of ecological networks
title_sort dimensionality of ecological networks
topic ecology
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/95723
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