Function – Paleo-linked methods for network reconstruction

moving from summary to process (reductionist to process?, measuring vs describing?)

Stability

Traditional definition of stability: the inclination of a system (network) to return to its original function following a stress/perturbation in its biotic component(s). Using this framework as a means to assess the stability of networks (and what property might be responsible for driving stability) means we need a firm grasp of what ‘function’ encapsulates and also how we define a stressor. Some working definitions of stability: local stability of equilibria, persistence of species

Landi et al. (2018)

TBR: Fath et al. (2019) Antunes et al. (2024) Braga et al. (2019) Galiana et al. (2021)

Stability as robustness

Understanding stability in the context of species loss - especially secondary extinctions. (which is very much a central theme in paleo ecology one would assume)

Stability as variance

Table 1: Drivers of stability

Measure	Stability as…	Theory (how it drives stability)	Ref
Modularity		Energy channels (modules)	Moore and William Hunt (1988)
Centrality	robustness	Keystone species (hubs) play key role in buffering extinction. Although see Allesina, Bodini, and Pascual (2009)	Dunne, Williams, and Martinez (2002)
Distribution of interaction strength			Solé and Montoya (2001)
Trophic links			Neutel, Heesterbeek, and Ruiter (2002)

Flux

References

Allesina, Stefano, Antonio Bodini, and Mercedes Pascual. 2009. “Functional Links and Robustness in Food Webs.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 364 (1524): 1701–9. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0214.

Antunes, Ana Carolina, Emilio Berti, Ulrich Brose, Myriam R. Hirt, Dirk N. Karger, Louise M. J. O’Connor, Laura J. Pollock, Wilfried Thuiller, and Benoit Gauzens. 2024. “Linking Biodiversity, Ecosystem Function, and Nature’s Contributions to People: A Macroecological Energy Flux Perspective.” Trends in Ecology & Evolution 39 (5): 427–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2024.01.004.

Braga, J, Laura J. Pollock, C. Barros, J. Montoya, Dominique Gravel, Luigi Maiorano, Gentile Francesco Ficetola, Stéphane Dray, and Wilfried Thuiller. 2019. “Spatial Analyses of Multi-Trophic Terrestrial Vertebrate Assemblages in Europe.” Global Ecology and Biogeography 28 (11): 1636–48.

Dunne, Jennifer, Richard J Williams, and Néo D Martinez. 2002. “Network Structure and Biodiversity Loss in Food Webs: Robustness Increases with Connectance.” Ecol. Lett. 5 (4): 558–67.

Fath, Brian D., Harald Asmus, Ragnhild Asmus, Dan Baird, Stuart R. Borrett, Victor N. de Jonge, Alessandro Ludovisi, et al. 2019. “Ecological Network Analysis Metrics: The Need for an Entire Ecosystem Approach in Management and Policy.” Ocean & Coastal Management 174 (May): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2019.03.007.

Galiana, Núria, Ceres Barros, João Braga, Gentile Francesco Ficetola, Luigi Maiorano, Wilfried Thuiller, José M. Montoya, and Miguel Lurgi. 2021. “The Spatial Scaling of Food Web Structure Across European Biogeographical Regions.” Ecography 44 (5): 653–64. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05229.

Landi, Pietro, Henintsoa O. Minoarivelo, Åke Brännström, Cang Hui, and Ulf Dieckmann. 2018. “Complexity and Stability of Ecological Networks: A Review of the Theory.” Population Ecology 60 (4): 319–45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-018-0628-3.

Moore, John C., and H. William Hunt. 1988. “Resource Compartmentation and the Stability of Real Ecosystems.” Nature 333 (6170): 261–63. https://doi.org/10.1038/333261a0.

Neutel, Anje-Margriet, Johan A. P. Heesterbeek, and Peter C. de Ruiter. 2002. “Stability in Real Food Webs: Weak Links in Long Loops.” Science 296 (5570): 1120–23. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1068326.

Solé, Ricard V., and M. Montoya. 2001. “Complexity and Fragility in Ecological Networks.” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 268 (1480): 2039–45. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2001.1767.