Inferring species interactions from ecological survey data: A mechanistic approach to predict quantitative food webs of seed feeding by carabid beetles.

ABSTRACT: Ecological networks are valuable for ecosystem analysis but their use is often limited by a lack of data because many types of ecological interaction, for example, predation, are short-lived and difficult to observe or detect. While there are different methods for inferring the presence of interactions, they have rarely been used to predict the interaction strengths that are required to construct weighted, or quantitative, ecological networks.Here, we develop a trait-based approach suitable for inferring weighted networks, that is, with varying interaction strengths. We developed the method for seed-feeding carabid ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) although the principles can be applied to other species and types of interaction.Using existing literature data from experimental seed-fee

SUBMITTER: Pocock MJO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8462163 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature