Networking nutrients: how nutrition determines the structure of
ecological networks
Abstract
Nutrients are a critical driver of ecological interactions (e.g.,
plant-herbivore, predator-prey and host-parasite) but are not yet
integrated into ecological networks. Ecological concepts like
nutrient-specific foraging and nutrient-dependent functional responses
provide invaluable mechanistic context to complex ecological
interactions. These concepts in turn offer an opportunity to predict
dynamic network processes such as interaction rewiring and cascading
extinction events. Here, we propose the concept of nutritional networks.
By integrating nutritional data into ecological networks, we envisage
significant advances to our understanding of ecological dynamics at
every scale from individuals to ecosystems. We summarise the potential
influence of nutrients on the structure and complexity of ecological
networks, with specific reference to niche partitioning, predator-prey
dynamics, spatiotemporal patterns and robustness. Using an empirical
example of an inter-specific trophic network, we show that networks can
be constructed with nutritional data to disentangle the drivers of
ecological interactions in natural systems. Throughout, we identify
fundamental ecological hypotheses that can be explored in a nutritional
network context, and highlight methodological frameworks to facilitate
their operationalisation.