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A Hierarchy of Networks Spanning from Individual Organisms to Ecological Landscapes

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Network Science

Abstract

Living systems are hierarchically organised. A number of components are linked by the multiplicity of interactions at each level (from organisms to species to ecosystems). This kind of compositional and hierarchical complexity is a computational and conceptual challenge. We need new approaches to determine the key components of large interaction networks and we need to better understand how they influence the system dynamics horizontally (at the same level) and vertically (between organisational levels). We provide examples for various interaction networks (animal social group, food web, landscape) and discuss how to dynamically link them.

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Acknowledgements

For animal social network data, we are grateful to Daniel Blumstein and Tina Wey (marmots) as well as Professor Raghavendra Gadagkar and Anindita Bhadra (wasps). In research of food webs, we are mostly grateful to Thomas Okey, Barbara Bauer, Wei-chung Liu, István Scheuring and János Podani for cooperation and help. In research in landscape networks, we acknowledge Santiago Saura and Lucia Pascual-Hortal for providing data and discussions. The work of FJ was partly supported by Society in Science: The Branco Weiss Fellowship, ETH, Zürich.

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    1. Ferenc Jordán
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    2. Gabriella Baranyi
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    3. Federica Ciocchetta
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    Correspondence to Ferenc Jordán .

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    1. , Dept. Mathematics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, G1 1XH, United Kingdom

      Ernesto Estrada

    2. , Dept. Computer & Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Richmond Street 26, Glasgow, G1 1XH, United Kingdom

      Maria Fox

    3. Dept. Mathematics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, G1 1XH, United Kingdom

      Desmond J. Higham

    4. , Dept. Physics & Applied Physics, University of Strathclyde, Rottenrow 107, Glasgow, G4 0NG, United Kingdom

      Gian-Luca Oppo

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    Jordán, F., Baranyi, G., Ciocchetta, F. (2010). A Hierarchy of Networks Spanning from Individual Organisms to Ecological Landscapes. In: Estrada, E., Fox, M., Higham, D., Oppo, GL. (eds) Network Science. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84996-396-1_8

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84996-396-1_8

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