Impact of cyber-invasive species on a large ecological network

Abstract

As impacts of introduced species cascade through trophic levels, they can cause indirect and counter-intuitive effects. To investigate the impact of invasive species at the network scale, we use a generalized food web model, capable of propagating changes through networks with a series of ecologically realistic criteria. Using data from a small British offshore island, we quantify the impacts of four virtual invasive species (an insectivore, a herbivore, a carnivore and an omnivore whose diet is based on a rat) and explore which clusters of species react in similar ways. We find that the predictions for the impacts of invasive species are ecologically plausible, even in large networks. Species in the same taxonomic group are similarly impacted by a virtual invasive species. However, interesting differences within a given taxonomic group can occur. The results suggest that some native species may be at risk from a wider range of invasives than previously believed. The implications of these results for ecologists and land managers are discussed.

Generalized Structural Kinetic Modeling: A Survey and Guide

“…He was able to explain why certain food webs have a different structure but the same generalized bifurcation diagram (Aufderheide et al, 2012), a phenomenon first noticed in Gross (2004). In a subsequent work eigenvector methods were used to propose an approach for identifying the species in a food web that are most susceptible to perturbations and those that have the strongest impact on the dynamics of the system (Aufderheide et al, 2013;Doizy et al, 2018).…”

The impact of Sosnowsky’s Hogweed on feeding guilds of birds

“…The spread of invasive species is one of the most important global environmental problems (McGowan et al 2017) which changes the structure and functioning of bird communities (Castro-Díez and Alonso 2017). Pathway by which invasive plants can affect birds is changing their food resources (Nelson et al 2017;Doizy et al 2018). The negative responses of birds to plant invasions are usually linked to their specialization to certain food resources (Grass et al 2013) and deterioration of the birds' food base (Skórka et al 2010;Narango et al 2018).…”