scholarly journals Classification of Biological Interactions: Challenges in the field and in analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Pinheiro ◽  
Leonardo Jorge ◽  
Thomas Lewinsohn
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Species Interaction ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Biological Interactions ◽  
Web Database ◽  
Online Databases ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Taxonomic Groups

Within biological communities, species interact in a wide variety of ways. Species interactions have always been noted and classified by naturalists in describing living organisms and their ways. Moreover, they are essential to characterize ecological communities as functioning entities. Biodiversity databases, as a rule, are comprised of species records in certain localities and times. Many, if not most, originated as databases of museum specimens and/or published records. As such, they provide data on species occurrences and distribution, with little functional information. Currently, online databases for species interaction data are being formed or proposed. Usually, these databases set out to compile data from actual field studies, and their design reflects the singularities of particular studies that seed their development. In two online databases: the Web of Life (2021) and the Interaction Web DataBase (2020) (IWDB), the categories of interactions are quite heterogeneous (Table 1). For instance, they may refer explicitly to certain taxonomic groups (e.g., anemone-fish), or do so implicitly (host-parasitoid; parasitoids are all holometabolous insects with arthropod hosts); conversely, they may encompass almost any taxon (food webs). In another example, the Global Biotic Interactions database (Poelen et al. 2014) (GloBI) offers a choice of relational attributes when entering data, ranging from undefined to quite restricted (Table 2). Here we intend to contribute to the development of interaction databases, from two different points of view. First, what categories can be effectively applied to field observations of biotic interactions? Second, what theoretical and applied questions do we expect to address with interaction databases? These should be equally applicable to comparisons of studies of the same kind or mode of interaction, and to contrasts between interactions in multimodal studies.

scholarly journals Vulnerable species interactions are important for the stability of mutualistic networks

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benno I. Simmons ◽  
Hannah S. Wauchope ◽  
Tatsuya Amano ◽  
Lynn V. Dicks ◽  
William J. Sutherland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Species Coexistence ◽  
Species Interaction ◽  
Interaction Networks ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Ecological Context ◽  
Intrinsic Properties ◽  
Network Stability ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Stability

AbstractSpecies are central to ecology and conservation. However, it is the interactions between species that generate the functions on which ecosystems and humans depend. Despite the importance of interactions, we lack an understanding of the risk that their loss poses to ecological communities. Here, we quantify risk as a function of the vulnerability (likelihood of loss) and importance (contribution to network stability in terms of species coexistence) of 4330 mutualistic interactions from 41 empirical pollination and seed dispersal networks across six continents. Remarkably, we find that more vulnerable interactions are also more important: the interactions that contribute most to network stability are those that are most likely to be lost. Furthermore, most interactions tend to have more similar vulnerability and importance across networks than expected by chance, suggesting that vulnerability and importance may be intrinsic properties of interactions, rather than only a function of ecological context. These results provide a starting point for prioritising interactions for conservation in species interaction networks and, in areas lacking network data, could allow interaction properties to be inferred from taxonomy alone.

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 Hosts, parasites, and their interactions respond to climatic variables

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothée Poisot ◽  
Cynthia Guéveneux-Julien ◽  
Marie-Josée Fortin ◽  
Dominique Gravel ◽  
Pierre Legendre
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Climatic Variables ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Local Contribution ◽  
Host Parasite ◽  
Community Dissimilarity

Aim: Although there is a vast body of literature on the causes of variation in species composition in ecological communities, less effort has been invested in understanding how interactions between these species vary. Since interactions are crucial to the structure and functioning of ecological communities, we need to develop a better understanding of their spatial distribution. Here, we investigate whether species interactions vary more in response to different climate variables, than individual species do. Location: Eurasia. Time period: 2000s. Major taxa: Animalia. Methods: We used a measure of Local Contribution to Beta-Diversity to evaluate the compositional uniqueness of 51 host–parasite communities of rodents and their ectoparasitic fleas across Eurasia, using publicly available data. We measured uniqueness based on the species composition, and based on potential and realized biotic interactions (here, host-parasite interactions). Results: We show that species interactions vary more, across space, than species do. In particular, we show that species interactions respond to some climatic variables that have no effect on species distributions or dissimilarity. Main conclusions: Species interactions capture some degree of variation which is not apparent when looking at species occurrences only. In this system, this appeared as hosts and parasites interacting in different ways as a reponse to different environments, especially the temperature and dryness. We discuss the implications of this finding for the amount of information that should be considered when measuring community dissimilarity.

Community Ecology of Stream Fishes: Concepts, Approaches, and Techniques

2010 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Community Ecology ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
And Function

<em>Abstract</em>.—Ecological communities are structured by a combination of stochastic and deterministic processes, the latter including both abiotic factors and biotic interactions such as predation. Many studies, mostly in relatively stable ecosystems such as lakes, have demonstrated top-down effects on community structure and function. Communities or species in dynamic nonequilibrium ecosystems such as streams may also respond strongly to predation pressure. In this chapter, we review experimental research on effects of predation on fish assemblages in lotic systems, focusing on developments in the decades since Matthews and Heins (1987). Direct experimental evidence indicates that predators strongly affect lotic fish assemblages via direct and indirect pathways of lethal and nonlethal interactions. Across studies, predators consistently reduced prey density, caused changes in prey habitat use, and decreased prey activity levels. Predators may also affect aspects of prey life history and reproduction in streams, and the presence of multiple predator species may result in prey risk enhancement. Our review identified five areas needing additional research that may lead to further advances in stream fish community ecology: (1) linking predation experiments with theoretical models of fish assemblage structure and function, (2) quantifying functional traits of predators and prey, (3) manipulating whole assemblages and testing multispecies interactions, (4) understanding the role of predation in human-modified ecosystems, and (5) application of analytical approaches that facilitate integration among these areas of research as well as with observational field studies.

Dynamics of the rocky intertidal zone with remarks on generalization in ecology

1994 ◽  
Vol 343 (1303) ◽  
pp. 79-85 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Earth Science ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Transport Processes ◽  
Rocky Intertidal ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Biological Interactions ◽  
Larval Stages ◽  
Marine System ◽  
Ecological Science

Ecological systems at both population and com m unity scales are recognized increasingly as being more open than previously thought. In coastal m arine systems, physical oceanographic processes affecting larval stages are as, or more important than, biological interactions affecting adults. In terrestrial systems, the membership in ecological communities is controlled by geologic transport processes as much as by species interactions. Hence ecological science has become increasingly an earth science, and less a biological science. The differences between marine and terrestrial ecosystems imply that terrestrial systems are more localized functionally than marine systems; more likely to suffer extinction from habitat loss; and less likely to recover upon removal of stress. In addition, damage to a marine system is more likely to be felt further from the source of stress than it would in a terrestrial system. Finally, harvesting strategies at sea should react to continuous environmental monitoring whereas on land, demographically based strategies of harvest can suffice.

scholarly journals The balance of interaction types determines the assembly and stability of ecological communities

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jimmy J. Qian ◽  
Erol Akçay
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Species Interaction ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
External Stability ◽  
Ecological Selection ◽  
Interaction Types ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Almost All

What determines the assembly and stability of complex communities is a central question in ecology. Past work has suggested that mutualistic interactions are inherently destabilizing. However, this conclusion relies on assuming that benefits from mutualisms never stop increasing. Furthermore, almost all theoretical work focuses on the internal (asymptotic) stability of communities assembled all-at-once. Here, we present a model with saturating benefits from mutualisms and sequentially assembled communities. We show that such communities are internally stable for any level of diversity and any combination of species interaction types. External stability, or resistance to invasion, is thus an important but overlooked measure of stability. We demonstrate that the balance of different interaction types governs community dynamics. Mutualisms may increase external stability and diversity of communities as well as species persistence, depending on how benefits saturate. Ecological selection increases the prevalence of mutualisms, and limits on biodiversity emerge from species interactions. Our results help resolve longstanding debates on the stability, saturation, and diversity of communities.

scholarly journals Predators modify the evolutionary response of prey to temperature change

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 20150798 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Tseng ◽  
M. I. O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Daphnia Pulex ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Species Interaction ◽  
Population Growth Rates ◽  
Thermal Plasticity ◽  
Evolutionary Response ◽  
Freshwater Crustacean ◽  
Selective Forces

As climate regimes shift in many ecosystems worldwide, evolution may be a critical process allowing persistence in rapidly changing environments. Organisms regularly interact with other species, yet whether climate-mediated evolution can occur in the context of species interactions is not well understood. We tested whether a species interaction could modify evolutionary responses to temperature. We demonstrate that predation pressure by Dipteran larvae ( Chaoborus americanus ) modified the evolutionary response of a freshwater crustacean ( Daphnia pulex ) to its thermal environment over approximately seven generations in laboratory conditions. Daphnia kept at 21°C evolved higher population growth rates than those kept at 18°C, but only in those populations that were also reared with predators. Furthermore, predator-mediated selection resulted in the evolution of elevated Daphnia thermal plasticity. This laboratory natural selection experiment demonstrates that biotic interactions can modify evolutionary adaptation to temperature. Understanding the interplay between multiple selective forces can improve predictions of ecological and evolutionary responses of organisms to rapid environmental change.

Heterochrony and the Problem of Missing Links in Evolutionary Sequences

1984 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 84-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas W. Broadhead ◽  
Johnny A. Waters
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Feature Recognition ◽  
Biological Meaning ◽  
Juvenile Stages ◽  
Transitional Forms ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Organic Change

Critics of the concept of organic change through time have demanded proof not only of “transitional forms” but of specific transitions among higher taxonomic groups. Transitional forms among species and between a species of one genus and a species of another genus have been criticized because most demonstrated ancestor-descendant transitions are considered to occur within one “kind” of organism; the “kind” concept is bereft of biological meaning.Natural selection acts upon organisms at all stages of ontogeny, and especially at larval-juvenile stages. Large shifts in the morphology of one or more features are common in groups of organisms that evolve by heterochrony. Because heterochrony involves a change in timing of the appearance or development of a particular feature, recognition of heterochrony requires a confident knowledge of ontogeny. The resulting increase in complexity (e.g. recapitulation) or decrease in complexity (e.g. paedomorphosis), well documented among living organisms, commonly excludes morphologic intermediates. Paedomorphosis is especially important in the evolution of progressively simplifying lineages and has been well documented from living plants and animals and fossil representatives of echinoderms (blastoids, crinoids), conodonts, arthropods, mollusks and vertebrates. Heterochrony characterizes the evolution of most metazoan organisms, occurs at all taxonomic levels and was probably responsible for major innovations by which higher taxonomic groups are recognized.

scholarly journals Agent Based Models of Polymicrobial Biofilms and the Microbiome—A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 417
Author(s):  
Sherli Koshy-Chenthittayil ◽  
Linda Archambault ◽  
Dhananjai Senthilkumar ◽  
Reinhard Laubenbacher ◽  
Pedro Mendes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Human Microbiome ◽  
Agent Based Modeling ◽  
Autonomous Agent ◽  
Agent Based Models ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
Mucosal Surfaces ◽  
Living Organisms

The human microbiome has been a focus of intense study in recent years. Most of the living organisms comprising the microbiome exist in the form of biofilms on mucosal surfaces lining our digestive, respiratory, and genito-urinary tracts. While health-associated microbiota contribute to digestion, provide essential nutrients, and protect us from pathogens, disturbances due to illness or medical interventions contribute to infections, some that can be fatal. Myriad biological processes influence the make-up of the microbiota, for example: growth, division, death, and production of extracellular polymers (EPS), and metabolites. Inter-species interactions include competition, inhibition, and symbiosis. Computational models are becoming widely used to better understand these interactions. Agent-based modeling is a particularly useful computational approach to implement the various complex interactions in microbial communities when appropriately combined with an experimental approach. In these models, each cell is represented as an autonomous agent with its own set of rules, with different rules for each species. In this review, we will discuss innovations in agent-based modeling of biofilms and the microbiota in the past five years from the biological and mathematical perspectives and discuss how agent-based models can be further utilized to enhance our comprehension of the complex world of polymicrobial biofilms and the microbiome.

scholarly journals Facilitation costs and benefits function simultaneously on stress gradients for animals

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1885) ◽  
pp. 20180983 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Dangles ◽  
Mario Herrera ◽  
Carlos Carpio ◽  
Christopher J. Lortie
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Stress Gradient ◽  
Species Interaction ◽  
Positive Interactions ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Strong Basis ◽  
Stress Gradients ◽  
High Resource

Understanding the variation in species interactions along environmental stress gradients is crucial for making robust ecological predictions about community responses to changing environmental conditions. The facilitation–competition framework has provided a strong basis for predictions (e.g. the stress-gradient hypothesis, SGH), yet the mechanisms behind patterns in animal interactions on stress gradients are poorly explored in particular for mobile animals. Here, we proposed a conceptual framework modelling changes in facilitation costs and benefits along stress gradients and experimentally tested this framework by measuring fitness outcomes of benefactor–beneficiary interactions across resource quality levels. Three arthropod consumer models from a broad array of environmental conditions were used including aquatic detritivores, potato moths and rainforest carrion beetles. We detected a shift to more positive interactions at increasing levels of stress thereby supporting the application of the SGH to mobile animals. While most benefactors paid no significant cost of facilitation, an increase in potato moth beneficiary's growth at high resource stress triggered costs for benefactors. This study is the first to experimentally show that both costs and benefits function simultaneously on stress gradients for animals. The proposed conceptual framework could guide future studies examining species interaction outcomes for both animals and plants in an increasingly stressed world.

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