Ecological network analysis metrics: The need for an entire ecosystem approach in management and policy

Fath, Brian D.; Asmus, Harald; Asmus, Ragnhild; Baird, Dugald; Borrett, Stuart R.; Jonge, Victor N. de; Ludovisi, Alessandro; Niquil, Nathalie; Scharler, Ursula M.; Schückel, Ulrike; Wolff, Matthias

doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2019.03.007

Cited by 136 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 106 publications

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“…In line with these former studies, our results showed significant implications of these approaches for the understanding of the ecosystem dynamics and for adaptive management. Some types of food webs can be considered as indicators of trophic status (Fath et al, 2019, Safi et al, 2019 and ecosystem services (Schückel et al, 2018). Thus, the present study appears as a relevant track for managers to develop indicators of health status of ecosystems.…”

Section: Ecological Indicators Ecosystems Health Monitoring and Manamentioning

confidence: 99%

A new type of plankton food web functioning in coastal waters revealed by coupling Monte Carlo Markov chain linear inverse method and ecological network analysis

Meddeb

Niquil

Grami

et al. 2019

Ecological Indicators

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Plankton food webs (PFW) typology is based on different categories of functioning, according to the dominant processes and the role played by heterotrophic bacteria, small vs large phytoplankton, and small vs large zooplankton. Investigating the structure and the function of planktonic food webs in two SW Mediterranean waters (inshore and marine sites) at four seasons, using inverse (LIM-MCMC) and ecological network (ENA) analyses, we identified a new type of food web, called the "bacterial multivorous food web". This food web adds to the conventional trophic continuum as previously reported. The "bacterial multivorous food web" present in winter showed the lowest primary production among seasons, but highest bacterial production. Several food web ratios characterized this new typology e.g. picophytoplankton net primary production to total primary production varied from 0.20 to 0.28; bacterial to primary production ratio is higher than values reported in global scale (1); bacterial net production to the potential protozoan prey net production was high (>0.2). In this special food web, carbon was mostly recycled, with a moderate fraction channeled to deep waters, which lead to a higher retention of carbon inside the ecosystem. This winter PFW also seemed to be the most organized, specialized, stable and mature, as related to common interpretations of ENA. The spring was characterized by herbivorous food web, with highest activity coinciding with low stability. Although less usual, the herbivorous pathway was also observed during summer, in inshore waters. The autumn food webs, which functioned as multivorous or microbial food webs, appeared to be stable and mature. Finally, our study demonstrates the usefulness of food web models derived ratios combined with ecological network analysis indices to conduct evaluation of the structure and functioning of ecosystems and potentially to support management decisions in marine environment.

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Section: Ecological Indicators Ecosystems Health Monitoring and Manamentioning

confidence: 99%

A new type of plankton food web functioning in coastal waters revealed by coupling Monte Carlo Markov chain linear inverse method and ecological network analysis

Meddeb

Niquil

Grami

et al. 2019

Ecological Indicators

Self Cite

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“…Burt, 1992;Emirbayer & Goodwin, 1994;Granovetter, 1973;Moreno, 1934-but consider Freeman, 1996, for an overview of even earlier steps towards SNA) and ecology (ecological network analysis [ENA], cf. Fath et al, 2019;Fath & Patten, 1999;Finn, 1976;Hannon, 1973;Ulanowicz, 1980Ulanowicz, , 1983. Social systems may be understood as networks in which nodes commonly represent individual persons or collective actors (Lusher, Koskinen, & Robins, 2013;Wasserman & Faust, 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Studying human–nature relationships through a network lens: A systematic review

et al. 2020

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“…As previously established with cyclicity, the network cycling is key, and the Finn cycling index (FCI) calculates the amount material or energy cycled in the system normalized to the total system flow (Finn, 1980). Mean path length measures the number of compartments visited by a substance before exiting the system, but also the system activity caused by the input to the system (Fath et al., 2019). It is calculated by dividing the total system throughput by the flow into the system (Finn, 1976).…”

Section: Analysis Methods and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological network analysis of urban–industrial ecosystems

Morris

Weissburg

Bras

2020

J of Industrial Ecology

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Sustainability of urban areas is paramount in the coming years as cities continue to grow in population and resource consumption. A number of methods to model cities have been developed, including material flow analysis and urban metabolism, but these accounting methods do not fully analyze the complex network dynamics present within cities. Ecological network analysis (ENA) provides a new perspective into these urban areas by using metrics designed for analysis of natural ecosystems. This study analyzes 29 urban–industrial ecosystems using ENA, comparing the networks to each other as well as comparing them to previously analyzed eco‐industrial parks and natural food webs. It is found that these systems perform similar to other human‐designed systems, which consistently lack in ecological performance when compared with the natural ecosystems. Additionally, the impact of specific actor types within these networks is shown indicating the importance of industry, agriculture, and the natural environment. Finally, the types of networks are determined to affect the ecological metrics, with the more linear‐based energy networks having the worst performance. This new dataset of ecologically analyzed networks provides a deeper understanding of urban networks and their infrastructure, while providing useful information on how to potentially improve their sustainability.

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Ecological network analysis metrics: The need for an entire ecosystem approach in management and policy

Cited by 136 publications

References 106 publications

A new type of plankton food web functioning in coastal waters revealed by coupling Monte Carlo Markov chain linear inverse method and ecological network analysis

A new type of plankton food web functioning in coastal waters revealed by coupling Monte Carlo Markov chain linear inverse method and ecological network analysis

Studying human–nature relationships through a network lens: A systematic review

Ecological network analysis of urban–industrial ecosystems

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