Chapter 12. The future of ecological networks in the tropics

CAGNOLO, L.

Ecological Networks in the Tropics

Springer

Año: 2018; p. 171 - 183

Ecological networks are one of the best approaches to describe interactive communities of species. Accordingly, the development of network studies in the tropics is imperative given the high rates of habitat loss and transformation. To achieve this goal we face the challenge of dealing with extreme complexity but lacking complete taxonomic and natural history information. In this chapter, I analyze the trajectory of network studies in the tropics over time and describe some promising avenues for the study of ecological networks in the next years. I built keyword co-occurrence networks of network studies in the tropics for four periods from 1970 to the present. The earliest network studies were concentrated on food webs; in the following decades, network studies rose dramatically and diversified, generating topic modules about different interaction types. The last period (2010-2016) reflects a mix of different research areas, with food web studies being less important and much more connected with other topics such as frugivory and myrmecophily. One of the major challenges of network research in the tropics is to increase the level of network complexity. Here, I propose two ways: merging different interaction types into single networks and disaggregating data into their spatial, temporal and individual-level layers. The multilayer approach requires new conceptual and methodological frameworks that are starting to be formalized. One of these tools is barcode sequencing directly from DNA extracted from consumers, which provide strong physical evidence for the host association and facilitates phylogenetic analysis.