Predicting spatial and temporal variation in species interaction networks

• Grant number: 15/03275-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: June 14, 2015
• End date: July 30, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Leonor Patricia Cerdeira Morellato
• Grantee: Daniel Wisbech Carstensen
• Supervisor: Dominque Gravel
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), Canada
• Associated to the scholarship: 14/01594-4 - Variation of plant-pollinator networks and pairwise interactions across space and time, BP.PD

Abstract

Networks have been increasingly used to model ecological community structure and function. While structural properties of such networks are conserved over time and space, it is now well established that the identities of interactions within them are highly variable. However, we know very little about the underlying mechanisms and drivers of this variation. Here we propose that ecological networks could be perceived as processing chains where energy flows between nodes, represented by links. With enough knowledge on how flow is distributed and redistributed throughout networks we expect that our ability to predict networks and their variation over time and space will be strongly improved. We further aim to address an essential issue when modelling networks, namely sampling completeness. The presence, absence, and strength of interactions can be highly dependent upon sampling effort, and evaluating this is thus of high importance. In this project we propose new and promising advances in the field of network ecology and our objectives represent important steps towards a better understanding of species interactions. (AU)