Ecological networks: information theory meets Darwin's entangled bank.
Is it possible to untangle the 'entangled bank'--Darwin's metaphor for the complexity and connectedness of species in the natural world? Studies on webs of species interactions suggest so, but a major question remains unanswered: how specialized are different ecological networks? By considering how strongly species interact with each other, information theory may give the answer.
Montoya
Jose M
JM
School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK. j.montoya@qmul.ac.uk
Yvon-Durocher
Gabriel
G
D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D017753:Ecosystem; D007257:Information Theory; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D013045:Species Specificity; D013559:Symbiosis