Ecological Networks Across Environmental Gradients

Tylianakis, Jason M.; Morris, Rebecca J.

doi:10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110316-022821

Cited by 392 publications

(448 citation statements)

References 184 publications

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“…In addition to driving regional differences in trophic diversity, different types of environments were composed of different trophic groups: some trophic groups and their interactions were specialized to certain ecoregions, supporting the well-established principle in biogeography that different environments select for different functions (Buffon, 1761), in particular different trophic roles (Tylianakis & Morris, 2017). For example, top predator feline species and snakes predating upon smaller reptiles and rodents is a type of interaction that is particularly well-represented in the Mediterranean metaweb.…”

Section: From Eltonian Niches To Food Web Structure At Macroecologisupporting

confidence: 53%

“…It is well established that in the Alps, the elevational gradient combined with spatial heterogeneity naturally provide a diversity of habitats which results in a higher diversity of niches available in the Alps (Kadmon & Allouche, 2007;Tylianakis & Morris, 2017). The alpine metaweb contained the highest diversity in terms of species, trophic groups and types of interactions.…”

Section: From Eltonian Niches To Food Web Structure At Macroecologimentioning

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: From Eltonian Niches To Food Web Structure At Macroecologisupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: From Eltonian Niches To Food Web Structure At Macroecologimentioning

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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“…Similarly, our results show the importance of considering different spatial scales to get a broader understanding of the specialization pattern and their determinants. Additionally, if network structure varies across spatial scales (Pillai et al 2011, Roslin et al 2014, Wood et al 2015, Galiana et al 2018), then network studies estimating the causes of variation in network structure along any environmental gradient (Dormann et al 2017, Tylianakis and Morris 2017, Pellissier et al 2018) might benefit from understanding the spatial scaling of network structure along the gradient. However, caution must be exerted when interpreting the comparison between different spatial scales.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The geographical variation of network structure is scale dependent: understanding the biotic specialization of host–parasitoid networks

2019

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Research on the structure of ecological networks suggests that a number of universal patterns exist. Historically, biotic specialization has been thought to increase towards the Equator. Yet, recent studies have challenged this view showing non-conclusive results. Most studies analysing the geographical variation in biotic specialization focus, however, only on the local scale. Little is known about how the geographical variation of network structure depends on the spatial scale of observation (i.e., from local to regional spatial scales). This should be remedied, as network structure changes as the spatial scale of observation changes, and the magnitude and shape of these changes can elucidate the mechanisms behind the geographical variation in biotic specialization. Here we analyse four facets of biotic specialization in host-parasitoid networks along gradients of climatic constancy, classifying the networks according to their spatial extension (local or regional). Namely, we analyse network connectance, consumer diet overlap, consumer diet breadth, and resource vulnerability at both local and regional scales along the gradients of both current climatic constancy and historical climatic change. While at the regional scale none of the climatic variables are associated to biotic specialization, at the local scale, network connectance, consumer diet overlap, and resource vulnerability decrease with current climatic constancy, whereas consumer generalism increases (i.e., broader diet breadths in tropical areas). Similar patterns are observed along the gradient of historical climatic change. We provide an explanation based on different beta-diversity for consumers and resources across the geographical gradients. Our results show that the geographical gradient of biotic specialization is not universal. It depends on both the facet of biotic specialization and the spatial scale of observation.

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“…CO 2 concentrations and extreme weather) on ecological networks have been recently reviewed (Tylianakis & Binzer, 2014;Tylianakis & Morris, 2017). We then discuss the impacts of global warming on species, interactions and entire host-parasitoid networks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms structuring host–parasitoid networks in a global warming context: a review

Thierry

Hrček

Lewis

2019

Ecological Entomology

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1. In natural communities, multiple host and parasitoid species are linked to form complex networks of trophic and non-trophic interactions. Understanding how these networks will respond to global warming is of wide relevance for agriculture and conservation.2. This study synthesises the emerging evidence surrounding host-parasitoid networks in the context of global warming. The suite of direct and indirect interaction types within host-parasitoid networks is summarised, as well as their sensitivity to temperature changes. The study also compiles and reviews studies investigating the responses of whole host-parasitoid networks to increasing temperatures or proxy variables. The findings reveal there is limited evidence overall for the prediction that parasitism will be reduced under global warming: approximately equal numbers of studies show elevated and reduced parasitism.3. Increasingly, endosymbiotic bacteria are recognised as influential mediators of host-parasitoid interactions. These endosymbionts can change how individual species respond to global warming, and their effects can cascade to affect whole host-parasitoid networks. The evidence that symbiotic bacteria are likely to affect the response of host-parasitoid networks to global warming is reviewed. Symbionts can protect hosts from their parasitoids or influence thermal tolerance of their host species. Furthermore, the symbionts themselves can be impacted by global warming.4. Finally, the study considers the most promising avenues for future research into the mechanisms structuring host-parasitoid networks in the context of global warming. Alongside the increasing availability of modern molecular methods to document the structure of real, species-rich host-parasitoid networks, the study highlights the utility of manipulative experiments and mathematical models.

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Ecological Networks Across Environmental Gradients

Cited by 392 publications

References 184 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

The geographical variation of network structure is scale dependent: understanding the biotic specialization of host–parasitoid networks

Mechanisms structuring host–parasitoid networks in a global warming context: a review

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