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Power laws in species' biotic interaction networks can be inferred from co-occurrence data.

ABSTRACT: Inferring biotic interactions from species co-occurrence patterns has long intrigued ecologists. Yet recent research revealed that co-occurrences may not reliably represent pairwise biotic interactions. We propose that examining network-level co-occurrence patterns can provide valuable insights into community structure and assembly. Analysing ten bipartite networks of empirically sampled biotic interactions and associated species spatial distribution, we find that approximately 20% of co-occurrences correspond to actual interactions. Moreover, the degree distribution shifts from exponential in co-occurrence networks to power laws in networks of biotic interactions. This shift results from a strong interplay between species' biotic (their interacting partners) and abiotic (their environmental requirements) niches, and is accurately predicted by considering co-occurrence frequencies. Our work offers a mechanistic understanding of the assembly of ecological communities and suggests simple ways to infer fundamental biotic interaction network characteristics from co-occurrence data.

SUBMITTER: Galiana N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11263125 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Power laws in species' biotic interaction networks can be inferred from co-occurrence data.

Galiana Nuria N Arnoldi Jean-François JF Mestre Frederico F Rozenfeld Alejandro A Araújo Miguel B MB

Nature ecology & evolution 20231127 2

Inferring biotic interactions from species co-occurrence patterns has long intrigued ecologists. Yet recent research revealed that co-occurrences may not reliably represent pairwise biotic interactions. We propose that examining network-level co-occurrence patterns can provide valuable insights into community structure and assembly. Analysing ten bipartite networks of empirically sampled biotic interactions and associated species spatial distribution, we find that approximately 20% of co-occurre ...[more]

PMID: 38012361

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Power laws in species' biotic interaction networks can be inferred from co-occurrence data.

Publications

Power laws in species' biotic interaction networks can be inferred from co-occurrence data.

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