Trait‐matching models predict pairwise interactions across regions, not food web properties
Abstract Aim Food webs are essential for understanding how ecosystems function, but empirical data on the interactions that make up these ecological networks are lacking for most taxa in most ecosystems. Trait‐based models can fill these data gaps, but their ability to do so has not been widely test...
Published in: | Global Ecology and Biogeography |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/geb.13807 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/geb.13807 |
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crwiley:10.1111/geb.13807 2024-06-02T08:15:25+00:00 Trait‐matching models predict pairwise interactions across regions, not food web properties Caron, Dominique Brose, Ulrich Lurgi, Miguel Blanchet, F. Guillaume Gravel, Dominique Pollock, Laura J. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/geb.13807 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/geb.13807 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Global Ecology and Biogeography volume 33, issue 4 ISSN 1466-822X 1466-8238 journal-article 2024 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13807 2024-05-03T10:59:19Z Abstract Aim Food webs are essential for understanding how ecosystems function, but empirical data on the interactions that make up these ecological networks are lacking for most taxa in most ecosystems. Trait‐based models can fill these data gaps, but their ability to do so has not been widely tested. We test how well these models can extrapolate to new ecological communities both in terms of pairwise predator–prey interactions and higher level food web attributes (i.e. species position, food web‐level properties). Location Canada, Europe, Tanzania. Time Period Current. Major Taxa Studied Terrestrial vertebrates. Methods We train trait‐based models of pairwise trophic interactions on four independent vertebrate food webs (Canadian tundra, Serengeti, alpine south‐eastern Pyrenees and Europe) and evaluate how well these models predict pairwise interactions and network properties of each food web. Results We find that, overall, trait‐based models predict most interactions and their absence correctly. Performance was best for training and testing on the same food web (AUC > 0.90) and declined with environmental and phylogenetic distances with the strongest loss of performance for the tundra‐Serengeti ecosystems (AUC > 0.75). Network metrics were less well‐predicted than single interactions by our models with predicted food webs being more connected, less modular, and with higher mean trophic levels than observed. Main Conclusions Theory predicts that the variability observed in food webs can be explained by differences in trait distributions and trait‐matching relationships. Our finding that trait‐based models can predict many trophic interactions, even in contrasting environments, adds to the growing body of evidence that there are general constraints on interactions and that trait‐based methods can serve as a useful first approximation of food webs in unknown areas. However, food webs are more than the sum of their parts, and predicting network attributes will likely require models that simultaneously ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Tundra Wiley Online Library Canada Global Ecology and Biogeography 33 4 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
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Abstract Aim Food webs are essential for understanding how ecosystems function, but empirical data on the interactions that make up these ecological networks are lacking for most taxa in most ecosystems. Trait‐based models can fill these data gaps, but their ability to do so has not been widely tested. We test how well these models can extrapolate to new ecological communities both in terms of pairwise predator–prey interactions and higher level food web attributes (i.e. species position, food web‐level properties). Location Canada, Europe, Tanzania. Time Period Current. Major Taxa Studied Terrestrial vertebrates. Methods We train trait‐based models of pairwise trophic interactions on four independent vertebrate food webs (Canadian tundra, Serengeti, alpine south‐eastern Pyrenees and Europe) and evaluate how well these models predict pairwise interactions and network properties of each food web. Results We find that, overall, trait‐based models predict most interactions and their absence correctly. Performance was best for training and testing on the same food web (AUC > 0.90) and declined with environmental and phylogenetic distances with the strongest loss of performance for the tundra‐Serengeti ecosystems (AUC > 0.75). Network metrics were less well‐predicted than single interactions by our models with predicted food webs being more connected, less modular, and with higher mean trophic levels than observed. Main Conclusions Theory predicts that the variability observed in food webs can be explained by differences in trait distributions and trait‐matching relationships. Our finding that trait‐based models can predict many trophic interactions, even in contrasting environments, adds to the growing body of evidence that there are general constraints on interactions and that trait‐based methods can serve as a useful first approximation of food webs in unknown areas. However, food webs are more than the sum of their parts, and predicting network attributes will likely require models that simultaneously ... |
author2 |
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Caron, Dominique Brose, Ulrich Lurgi, Miguel Blanchet, F. Guillaume Gravel, Dominique Pollock, Laura J. |
spellingShingle |
Caron, Dominique Brose, Ulrich Lurgi, Miguel Blanchet, F. Guillaume Gravel, Dominique Pollock, Laura J. Trait‐matching models predict pairwise interactions across regions, not food web properties |
author_facet |
Caron, Dominique Brose, Ulrich Lurgi, Miguel Blanchet, F. Guillaume Gravel, Dominique Pollock, Laura J. |
author_sort |
Caron, Dominique |
title |
Trait‐matching models predict pairwise interactions across regions, not food web properties |
title_short |
Trait‐matching models predict pairwise interactions across regions, not food web properties |
title_full |
Trait‐matching models predict pairwise interactions across regions, not food web properties |
title_fullStr |
Trait‐matching models predict pairwise interactions across regions, not food web properties |
title_full_unstemmed |
Trait‐matching models predict pairwise interactions across regions, not food web properties |
title_sort |
trait‐matching models predict pairwise interactions across regions, not food web properties |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/geb.13807 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/geb.13807 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Tundra |
genre_facet |
Tundra |
op_source |
Global Ecology and Biogeography volume 33, issue 4 ISSN 1466-822X 1466-8238 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13807 |
container_title |
Global Ecology and Biogeography |
container_volume |
33 |
container_issue |
4 |
_version_ |
1800739593981526016 |