Human disturbances affect the topology of food webs

descriptionPublicationkeyboard_double_arrow_right Article , Other literature type 27 Sep 2022 Spain, Argentina, Portugal English Publisher:WileyJournal:Ecology Letters, volume 25, pages 2,476-2,488 (issn: 1461-023X, eissn: 1461-0248,

Copyright policy )Funded by:EC | AQUACOSM, EC | AQUACOSM-plus

Authors: Mestre, Frederico; Rozenfeld, Alejandro; Araújo, Miguel B.;

doi: 10.1111/ele.14107 , 10.60692/85ktf-fxp87 , 10.60692/vya6z-jhr69

pmid: 36167463

pmc: PMC9828725

handle: 10261/282651 , 10174/33332 , 11336/214416

Human disturbances affect the topology of food webs

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Abstract

Abstract Networks describe nodes connected by links, with numbers of links per node, the degree, forming a range of distributions including random and scale‐free. How network topologies emerge in natural systems still puzzles scientists. Based on previous theoretical simulations, we predict that scale‐free food webs are favourably selected by random disturbances while random food webs are selected by targeted disturbances. We assume that lower human pressures are more likely associated with random disturbances, whereas higher pressures are associated with targeted ones. We examine these predictions using 351 empirical food webs, generally confirming our predictions. Should the topology of food webs respond to changes in the magnitude of disturbances in a predictable fashion, consistently across ecosystems and scales of organisation, it would provide a baseline expectation to understand and predict the consequences of human pressures on ecosystem dynamics.

Countries

Spain, Argentina, Portugal

Related Organizations

University of Buenos Aires
Argentina
National University of Central Buenos Aires
Argentina
Spanish National Research Council
Spain
National Scientific and Technical Research Council
Argentina
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales
Spain

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Keywords

Sociology and Political Science, Scale (ratio), NETWORK TOPOLOGY, Social Sciences, Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Range (aeronautics), Engineering, https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5, https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6, https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.2, Network topology, Ecology, Geography, Evolutionary Dynamics of Genetic Adaptation and Mutation, Life Sciences, Food web, Scale-free network, World Wide Web, TROPHIC INTERACTIONS, Aerospace engineering, Anthropogenic disturbance, Impact of Pollinator Decline on Ecosystems and Agriculture, Trophic interactions, Evolution of Cooperation and Altruism in Social Systems, Cartography, Food Chain, Structural engineering, Node (physics), ANTHROPOGENIC DISTURBANCE, Environmental science, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Genetics, FOS: Mathematics, Humans, ecological networks, Letters, https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1, Biology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Ecosystem, Topology (electrical circuits), ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONING, Complex network, Mutualistic Networks, Computer science, Operating system, Combinatorics, FOS: Biological sciences, Ecosystem functioning, Mathematics

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