scholarly journals Towards an Essential Biodiversity Variable for Species Interactions

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e25409
Author(s):  
Quentin Groom ◽  
Robert Guralnick ◽  
W. Daniel Kissling
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Interaction Strength ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Species Interaction ◽  
Ecological Networks ◽  
Microbial Interactions ◽  
Ecosystem Structure ◽  
State Variables ◽  
Flower Visitation ◽  
Wide Range

Can Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) be developed to monitor changes in species interactions? That was the difficult question asked at the GLOBIS-B workshop in February, 2017 in which >50 experts participated. EBVs can be defined as harmonized measurements that allow us to inform policy about essential changes in biodiversity. They can be seen as biological state variables from which more refined indicators may be derived. They have been presented as a means to monitor global biodiversity change and as a concept to drive the gathering, sharing, and standardisation of data on our biota (Geijzendorffer et al. 2015, Kissling et al. 2017, Pereira et al. 2013). There are different classes of EBVs that characterize, for example, the state of species populations, species traits and ecosystem structure and function. It has also been proposed that there should be EBVs related to species interactions. However, until now there has been little progress formulating what these should be, even though species interactions are central to ecology. Species interactions cover a wide range of important processes, from mutualisms, such as pollination, to different forms of heterotrophic nutrition, such as the predator-prey relationship. Indeed, ecological interactions are critical to understand why an ecosystem is more than the sum of its parts. Nevertheless, direct observation of species interactions is often difficult and time consuming work, which makes it difficult to monitor them in the long-term. For this reason the workshop focused on those species interactions that are feasible to study and are most relevant to policy. To bring focus to our discussions we concentrated on pollination, predation and microbial interactions. Taking pollination as an example, there was recognition of the importance of ecological networks and that network metrics may be a sensitive indicator of change. Potential EBVs might be the number of pairwise interactions between species or the modularity and interaction diversity of the whole network. This requires standardised data collection and reporting (e.g. standardization of measures of interaction strength or minimum data specifications for ecological networks) and sufficient data across time to regularly calculate these metrics. Other simpler surrogates for pollination might also prove useful, such as flower visitation rates or the proportion of fruit set. Finally, there was a recognition that we do not yet have enough tools to monitor some important interactions. Many interactions, particular among microbes, can currently only be inferred from the co-occurrence of taxa. However, technology is rapidly developing and it is possible to foresee a future where even these interactions can be monitored efficiently. Species interactions are essential to understanding ecology, but they are also difficult to monitor. Yet, delegates at the workshop left with a positive outlook that it is valuable to develop standardisation and harmonization of species interaction data to make them suitable for EBV production.

scholarly journals Food web networks shift across a precipitation gradient due to changes in community composition and species interactions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Melissa Guzman ◽  
Bram Vanschoenwinkel ◽  
Vinicius F. Farjalla ◽  
Anita Poon ◽  
Diane Srivastava
Keyword(s):  
Community Composition ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Environmental Gradients ◽  
Interaction Strength ◽  
Species Interaction ◽  
Ecological Networks ◽  
Water Volume ◽  
Brazilian Coast ◽  
Markov Network ◽  
Water Volumes

AbstractEcological networks change across spatial and environmental gradients due to (i) changes in species composition or (ii) changes in the frequency or strength of interactions. Here we use the communities of aquatic invertebrates inhabiting clusters of bromeliad phytotelms along the Brazilian coast as a model system for examining turnover in the properties of ecological networks. We first document the variation in the species pools of sites across a geographical climate gradient. Using the same sites, we also explored the geographic variation in species interaction strength using a newly developed Markov network approach. We found that community composition differed along a gradient of water volume within bromeliads due to the turnover of some species. From the Markov network analysis, we found that the top-down effects of certain predators differed geographically, which could also be explained by geographic differences in bromeliad water volumes. Overall, this study illustrates how a network can change across an environmental gradient through both changes in both species and their interactions.

scholarly journals Brazilian Network on Plant-Pollinator Interactions: an update on the initiative of a standard for plant-pollinator interactions data

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e25343
Author(s):  
José Augusto Salim ◽  
Antonio Saraiva ◽  
Kayna Agostini ◽  
Marina Wolowski ◽  
Allan Veiga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Community Composition ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Ecosystem Structure ◽  
Interaction Data ◽  
Data Standard ◽  
Essential Biodiversity Variables ◽  
Biodiversity Change ◽  
Plant Pollinator

The Brazilian Plant-Pollinator Interactions Network*1 (REBIPP) aims to develop scientific and teaching activities in plant-pollinator interaction. The main goals of the network are to: generate a diagnosis of plant-pollinator interactions in Brazil; integrate knowledge in pollination of natural, agricultural, urban and restored areas; identify knowledge gaps; support public policy guidelines aimed at the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services for pollination and food production; and encourage collaborative studies among REBIPP participants. To achieve these goals the group has resumed and built on previous works in data standard definition done under the auspices of the IABIN-PTN (Etienne Américo et al. 2007) and FAO (Saraiva et al. 2010) projects (Saraiva et al. 2017). The ultimate goal is to standardize the ways data on plant-pollinator interactions are digitized, to facilitate data sharing and aggregation. A database will be built with standardized data from Brazilian researchers members of the network to be used by the national community, and to allow sharing data with data aggregators. To achieve those goals three task groups of specialists with similar interests and background (e.g botanists, zoologists, pollination biologists) have been created. Each group is working on the definition of the terms to describe plants, pollinators and their interactions. The glossary created explains their meaning, trying to map the suggested terms into Darwin Core (DwC) terms, and following the TDWG Standards Documentation Standard*2 in definition. Reaching a consensus on terms and their meaning among members of each group is challenging, since researchers have different views and concerns about which data are important to be included into a standard. That reflects the variety of research questions that underlie different projects and the data they collect. Thus, we ended up having a long list of terms, many of them useful only in very specialized research protocols and experiments, sometimes rarely collected or measured. Nevertheless we opted to maintain a very comprehensive set of terms, so that a large number of researchers feel that the standard meets their needs and that the databases based on it are a suitable place to store their data, thus encouraging the adoption of the data standard. An update of the work will soon be available at REBIPP website and will be open for comments and contributions. This proposal of a data standard is also being discussed within the TDWG Biological Interaction Data Interest Group*3 in order to propose an international standard for species interaction data. The importance of interaction data for guiding conservation practices and ecosystem services provision management has led to the proposal of defining Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) related to biological interactions. Essential Biodiversity Variables (Pereira et al. 2013) were developed to identify key measurements that are required to monitoring biodiversity change. EBVs act as intermediate abstract layer between primary observations (raw data) and indicators (Niemeijer 2002). Five EBV classes have been defined in an initial stage: genetic composition, species populations, species traits, community composition, ecosystem function and ecosystem structure. Each EBV class defines a list of candidate EBVs for biodiversity change monitoring (Fig. 1). Consequently, digitalization of such data and making them available online are essential. Differences in sampling protocols may affect data scalability across space and time, hence imposing barriers to the full use of primary data and EBVs calculation (Henry et al. 2008). Thus, common protocols and methods should be adopted as the most straightforward approach to promote integration of collected data and to allow calculation of EBVs (Jürgens et al. 2011). Recently a Workshop was held by GLOBIS B*4 (GLOBal Infrastructures for Supporting Biodiversity research) to discuss Species Interactions EBVs (February, 26-28, Bari, Italy). Plant-pollinator interactions deserved a lot of attention and REBIPP's work was presented there. As an outcome we expect to define specific EBVs for interactions, and use plant-pollinators as an example, considering pairwise interactions as well as interaction network related variables. The terms in the plant-pollinator data standard under discussion at REBIPP will provide information not only on EBV related with interactions, but also on other four EBV classes: species populations, species traits, community composition, ecosystem function and ecosystem structure. As we said, some EBVs for specific ecosystem functions (e.g. pollination) lay beyond interactions network structures. The EBV 'Species interactions' (EBV class 'Community composition') should incorporate other aspects such as frequency (Vázquez et al. 2005), duration and empirical estimates of interaction strengths (Berlow et al. 2004). Overall, we think the proposed plant-pollinator interaction data standard which is currently being developed by REBIPP will contribute to data aggregation, filling many data gaps and can also provide indicators for long-term monitoring, being an essential source of data for EBVs.

scholarly journals Bayesian characterization of uncertainty in species interaction strengths

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Wolf ◽  
Mark Novak ◽  
Alix I. Gitelman
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Interaction Strength ◽  
Species Interaction ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
Empirical Estimation ◽  
Statistical Significance Testing ◽  
Estimation Uncertainty ◽  
Point Estimates

Considerable effort has been devoted to the empirical estimation of species interaction strengths. This effort has focused primarily on statistical significance testing and on obtaining point estimates of parameters that contribute to interaction strength magnitude, leaving characterizations of estimation uncertainty and distinctions between the deterministic and stochastic contributions to variation largely unconsidered. Here we consider a means of quantifying interaction strength uncertainty by formulating an observational method for estimating per capita attack rates as a Bayesian statistical model. This formulation permits the explicit incorporation of multiple sources of uncertainty. In doing so we highlight the informative nature of several so-called non-informative prior choices in modeling the sparse data typical of predator feeding surveys and provide evidence for the superior performance of a new neutral prior choice. A case study application shows that while Bayesian point estimates may be made to correspond with those obtained by frequentist approaches, estimation uncertainty as described by the 95% intervals is more biologically realistic using the Bayesian method in that the lower bounds of the Bayesian posterior intervals for the attack rates do not include zero when the occurrence of a given predator-prey interaction is in fact observed. This contrasts with bootstrap confidence intervals that often do contain zero in such cases. The Bayesian approach provides a straightforward, probabilistic characterization of interaction strength uncertainty. In doing so it provides a framework for considering both the deterministic and stochastic drivers of species interactions and their impact on food web dynamics.

A roadmap towards predicting species interaction networks (across space and time)

2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1837) ◽  
pp. 20210063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanya Strydom ◽  
Michael D. Catchen ◽  
Francis Banville ◽  
Dominique Caron ◽  
Gabriel Dansereau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
False Negative ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Species Interaction ◽  
Ecological Networks ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
True Negative ◽  
Structure Variation ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
Simple Neural Network

Networks of species interactions underpin numerous ecosystem processes, but comprehensively sampling these interactions is difficult. Interactions intrinsically vary across space and time, and given the number of species that compose ecological communities, it can be tough to distinguish between a true negative (where two species never interact) from a false negative (where two species have not been observed interacting even though they actually do). Assessing the likelihood of interactions between species is an imperative for several fields of ecology. This means that to predict interactions between species—and to describe the structure, variation, and change of the ecological networks they form—we need to rely on modelling tools. Here, we provide a proof-of-concept, where we show how a simple neural network model makes accurate predictions about species interactions given limited data. We then assess the challenges and opportunities associated with improving interaction predictions, and provide a conceptual roadmap forward towards predictive models of ecological networks that is explicitly spatial and temporal. We conclude with a brief primer on the relevant methods and tools needed to start building these models, which we hope will guide this research programme forward. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Infectious disease macroecology: parasite diversity and dynamics across the globe’.

scholarly journals Linking multi-level population dynamics: trait, role, and population

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nao Takashina
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Trophic Niche ◽  
Niche Shift ◽  
Mathematical Framework ◽  
Ecosystem Structure ◽  
Level Model ◽  
Role Shift

Species interactions characterize population dynamics and ecosystem structure. While the population-level discussion is common in many ecological studies, trait variations within a population and ontogenetic diet/trophic niche shift are prevail across taxa. The ontogenetic development may lead to an individual’s role shift, such as inferior/superior competitor, prey, or predator. Here, we develop a novel mathematical framework to bridge multiple levels of population dynamics, such as trait, role, and population-level. We start with a nonlinear trait-level model, and derive role-level and population-level dynamics. By utilizing the connections, we demonstrate that the population-level model predicts the equilibrium status of the role-level model. In the role-level model, we discuss multiple role-shift scenarios: from (i) inferior/superior competitor to superior/inferior competitor, (ii) competitor to predator, and (iii) prey to predator. Our approach connects traits, roles, and population dynamics consistently, thus offering an opportunity to discuss the effect of species traits in the population-level dynamics.

scholarly journals Dynamics of species interaction strength in space, time and with developmental stage

2010 ◽  
Vol 278 (1713) ◽  
pp. 1804-1813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Kordas ◽  
Steve Dudgeon
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
Interaction Strength ◽  
Species Interaction ◽  
Priority Effects ◽  
Rocky Shores ◽  
Target Populations ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Per Capita

Quantifying species interaction strengths enhances prediction of community dynamics, but variability in the strength of species interactions in space and time complicates accurate prediction. Interaction strengths can vary in response to density, indirect effects, priority effects or a changing environment, but the mechanism(s) causing direction and magnitudes of change are often unclear. We designed an experiment to characterize how environmental factors influence the direction and the strength of priority effects between sessile species. We estimated per capita non-trophic effects of barnacles ( Semibalanus balanoides ) on newly settled germlings of the fucoid, Ascophyllum nodosum , in the presence and absence of consumers in experiments on rocky shores throughout the Gulf of Maine, USA. Per capita effects on germlings varied among environments and barnacle life stages, and these interaction strengths were largely unaltered by changing consumer abundance. Whereas previous evidence shows adult barnacles facilitate fucoids, here, we show that recent settlers and established juveniles initially compete with germlings. As barnacles mature, they switch to become facilitators of fucoids. Consumers caused variable mortality of germlings through time comparable to that from competition. Temporally variable effects of interactors (e.g. S. balanoides ), or spatial variation in their population structure, in different regions differentially affect target populations (e.g. A. nodosum ). This may affect abundance of critical stages and the resilience of target species to environmental change in different geographical regions.

scholarly journals Bayesian characterization of uncertainty in species interaction strengths

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Wolf ◽  
Mark Novak ◽  
Alix I. Gitelman
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Interaction Strength ◽  
Species Interaction ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
Empirical Estimation ◽  
Statistical Significance Testing ◽  
Estimation Uncertainty ◽  
Point Estimates

Considerable effort has been devoted to the empirical estimation of species interaction strengths. This effort has focused primarily on statistical significance testing and on obtaining point estimates of parameters that contribute to interaction strength magnitude, leaving characterizations of estimation uncertainty and distinctions between the deterministic and stochastic contributions to variation largely unconsidered. Here we consider a means of quantifying interaction strength uncertainty by formulating an observational method for estimating per capita attack rates as a Bayesian statistical model. This formulation permits the explicit incorporation of multiple sources of uncertainty. In doing so we highlight the informative nature of several so-called non-informative prior choices in modeling the sparse data typical of predator feeding surveys and provide evidence for the superior performance of a new neutral prior choice. A case study application shows that while Bayesian point estimates may be made to correspond with those obtained by frequentist approaches, estimation uncertainty as described by the 95% intervals is more biologically realistic using the Bayesian method in that the lower bounds of the Bayesian posterior intervals for the attack rates do not include zero when the occurrence of a given predator-prey interaction is in fact observed. This contrasts with bootstrap confidence intervals that often do contain zero in such cases. The Bayesian approach provides a straightforward, probabilistic characterization of interaction strength uncertainty. In doing so it provides a framework for considering both the deterministic and stochastic drivers of species interactions and their impact on food web dynamics.

scholarly journals Network ecology in dynamic landscapes

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1949) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Josée Fortin ◽  
Mark R. T. Dale ◽  
Chris Brimacombe
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Complex Dynamics ◽  
Landscape Heterogeneity ◽  
Species Interaction ◽  
Ecological Networks ◽  
Species Dispersal ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Dynamic Landscapes ◽  
Network Topologies

Network ecology is an emerging field that allows researchers to conceptualize and analyse ecological networks and their dynamics. Here, we focus on the dynamics of ecological networks in response to environmental changes. Specifically, we formalize how network topologies constrain the dynamics of ecological systems into a unifying framework in network ecology that we refer to as the ‘ecological network dynamics framework’. This framework stresses that the interplay between species interaction networks and the spatial layout of habitat patches is key to identifying which network properties (number and weights of nodes and links) and trade-offs among them are needed to maintain species interactions in dynamic landscapes. We conclude that to be functional, ecological networks should be scaled according to species dispersal abilities in response to landscape heterogeneity. Determining how such effective ecological networks change through space and time can help reveal their complex dynamics in a changing world.

scholarly journals Sponge-dwelling fauna: a review of known species from the Northwest Tropical Atlantic coral reefs

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antar Pérez-Botello ◽  
Nuno Simões
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Species Interaction ◽  
Marine Sponges ◽  
Chord Diagram ◽  
Tropical Atlantic ◽  
Associated Fauna ◽  
Symbiotic Relationships ◽  
Guest Species ◽  
Wide Range

Within tropical shallow-water coral reefs, marine sponges provide microhabitats for a wide range of fauna. Although there have been numerous studies and reports of symbiotic relationships amongst sponges and their associated fauna, those pieces of information are isolated and disconnected. For this reason, based on the available literature, we compiled a species-interaction dataset of coral reef marine sponge-associated fauna known to date. We introduce a dataset that includes 67 literature items that report 101 species of sponge hosts clustered in 12 Orders having a host/guest interaction with 284 guest species from six Phyla present in the Northwestern Tropical Atlantic coral reefs. This dataset consists of two types of information: 1. Machine-readable data and 2. Human-readable data. These two types of coding improve the scope of the dataset and facilitate the link between machine platforms and human-friendly displays. We also created an interactive visualisation of the species-interactions dataset and of a dynamic Chord Diagram of the host-guest species connections to generate a user-friendly link between the user and the dataset.

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