A review of species role concepts in food webs

Cirtwill, Alyssa R.; Riva, Giulio Valentino Dalla; Gaiarsa, Marília Palumbo; Bimler, Malyon D.; Cagua, E. Fernando; Coux, Camille; Dehling, D. Matthias

doi:10.1016/j.fooweb.2018.e00093

Cited by 65 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 174 publications

(248 reference statements)

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“…The stochastic block model goes further in capturing the different dimensions of a species' role in the food web than the trophic level concept, which overlooks important aspects of species' ecological role such as their taxonomy, trophic specialization and biological traits (Cirtwill et al, 2018). In addition, the trophic level is a concept that implies a hierarchy in the food web that is not always relevant (Cousins, 1987;Polis & Strong, 1996).…”

Section: Recovering Species' Eltonian Niche From Large Food Webs Wimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first approach focuses on the position of a species within a food web, using methods from network science to aggregate species into a number of trophic groups that contain species with similar sets of prey and predator species (Cirtwill et al, 2018). The stochastic block model (Allesina & Pascual, 2009;Daudin, Picard, & Robin, 2008;Karrer & Newman, 2011), in particular, provides the opportunity to aggregate the species that have the same probability of interacting with the rest of the species in the network, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Unveiling the food webs of tetrapods across Europe through the prism of the Eltonian niche

O’Connor

Pollock

Braga

et al. 2019

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim: Despite recent calls for integrating interaction networks into the study of large-scale biodiversity patterns, we still lack a basic understanding of the functional characteristics of large interaction networks and how they are structured across environments. Here, building on recent advances in network science around the Eltonian niche concept, we aim to characterize the trophic groups in a large food web, and understand how these trophic groups vary across space. Location: Europe and Anatolia.Taxon: Tetrapods (1,136 species). Methods:We combined an expert-based metaweb of all European tetrapods with their spatial distributions and biological traits. To understand the functional structure of the metaweb, we first used a stochastic block model to group species with similar Eltonian niches, and then analysed these groups with species' functional traits and network metrics. We then combined these groups with species distributions to understand how trophic diversity varies across space, in function of the environment, and between the European ecoregions. Results:We summarized the 1,136 interacting species within the metaweb into 46 meaningful trophic groups of species with a similar role in the metaweb. Specific aspects of the ecology of species, such as their activity time, nesting habitat and diet explained these trophic groups. Across space, trophic diversity was driven by both biotic and abiotic factors (species richness, climate and primary productivity), and the representation of trophic groups differed among European ecoregions. Main conclusions:We have characterized the Eltonian niche of species in a large food web, both in terms of species interactions and functional traits, and then used this to understand the spatial variation of food webs at a functional level, thus bringing together network science, functional ecology and biogeography. Our results highlight the need to integrate multiple aspects of species ecology in global change research.Further, our approach is strongly relevant for conservation biology as it could help predict the impact of species translocations on trophic diversity.

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Section: Recovering Species' Eltonian Niche From Large Food Webs Wimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unveiling the food webs of tetrapods across Europe through the prism of the Eltonian niche

O’Connor

Pollock

Braga

et al. 2019

Journal of Biogeography

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“…A powerful approach for understanding ecological interactions is through network analyses, in which interactions (‘edges’) are represented by links among biological ‘nodes’ (usually species) (Cirtwill et al, 2018). These networks most commonly depict mutualisms such as pollination and seed dispersal (Bascompte, 2009) or antagonisms such as parasitism and predation (Lafferty, Dobson, & Kuris, 2006), quantifying aspects of the community’s trophic structure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altered structure and stability of bat-prey interaction networks in logged tropical forests revealed by metabarcoding

Hemprich‐Bennett

Kemp

Blackman

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Data Accessibility Statement:Data are currently archived at the Centre for Ecology and 20 Hydrology Environmental Information Data Centre 21 (https://doi.org/10.5285/8b106445-d8e0-482c-b517-5a372a09dc91) and will be released from 22 embargo following publication. Specific analysis scripts are available on GitHub with links 23 given in the manuscript and will be archived on Zenodo prior to publication. 24 25 Statement of authorship: SR, EC, DHB, MS and OTL conceived the project, DHB, VK and JB 26 undertook field collections and laboratory work, DHB analysed the data with input from EC, 27 and DHB wrote the manuscript with input from all authors. 28 3 Abstract 29 1. Habitat degradation is pervasive across the tropics and is particularly acute in Southeast 30 Asia, with major implications for biodiversity. Much research has addressed the impact 31 of degradation on species diversity; however, little is known about how ecological 32 interactions are altered, including those that constitute important ecosystem functions 33 such as pest consumption.34 2. We examined how rainforest degradation alters trophic interaction networks linking 35 insectivorous bats and their prey. We used DNA metabarcoding to study the diets of 36 forest-dwelling insectivorous bat species, and compared bat-prey interaction networks 37 between old growth forest and forest degraded by logging in Sabah, Borneo.38 3. We predicted that rainforest degradation would cause measurable reductions in the 39 numbers of prey consumed by individual bats, and that this degradation would yield 40 networks in logged forest with lower functional complementarity, modularity and 41 nestedness than those in old growth forest.42 4. Compared to bats in old growth rainforest, bats in logged sites consumed a lower 43 diversity of prey. Their interaction networks were less nested and had a more modular 44 structure in which bat species had lower closeness centrality scores than in old growth 45 forest. These network structures were associated with reduced network redundancy and 46 thus increased vulnerability to perturbations in logged forests.47 5. Our results show how ecological interactions change between old growth and logged 48 forests, with potentially negative implications for ecosystem function and network 49 stability. We also highlight the potential importance of insectivorous bats in consuming 50 invertebrate pests.51 4 Malay abstract 52 1. Degradasi habitat merupakan suatu fenomena yang berleluasa dikawasan tropika, 53 terutamanya di Asia Tenggara dengan implikasi yang besar ke atas biodiversiti. Banyak 54 kajian telahpun meneliti impak degradasi habitat atas kepelbagaian spesis. Walau 55 bagaimanapun, dari segi mana interaksi ekologi diubah suai kurang diselidik, termasuk 56 interaksi yang membentuk fungsi ekosistem yang penting seperti pemakanan binatang 57 perosak.58 2. Kami telah memeriksa bagaimana degradasi hutan hujan tropika dapat mengubah suai 59 interaksi antara tahap trofik yang menghubungkan kelawar yang memakan serangga 60 dan mangsa mereka. Ka...

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“…Hebert et al, 2016;Ratnasingham & Hebert, 2013) is of secondary importance, as long as we know which particular node the name refers to, and this name stays constant across community networks. Only the latter criterion will allow us to compare the role of the same node across networks (Cirtwill et al, 2018).…”

Section: Vis Ta Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction: Special issue on species interactions, ecological networks and community dynamics – Untangling the entangled bank using molecular techniques

et al. 2019

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A review of species role concepts in food webs

Cited by 65 publications

References 174 publications

Unveiling the food webs of tetrapods across Europe through the prism of the Eltonian niche

Unveiling the food webs of tetrapods across Europe through the prism of the Eltonian niche

Altered structure and stability of bat-prey interaction networks in logged tropical forests revealed by metabarcoding

Introduction: Special issue on species interactions, ecological networks and community dynamics – Untangling the entangled bank using molecular techniques

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