title: Do food web models reproduce the structure of mutualistic networks?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Simple models inspired by processes shaping consumer-resource interactions have helped to establish the primary processes underlying the organization of food webs, networks of trophic interactions among species. Because other ecological interactions such as mutualisms between plants and their pollinators and seed dispersers are inherently based in consumer-resource relationships we hypothesize that processes shaping food webs should organize mutualistic relationships as well.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We used a likelihood-based model selection approach to compare the performance of food web models and that of a model designed for mutualisms, in reproducing the structure of networks depicting mutualistic relationships. Our results show that these food web models are able to reproduce the structure of most of the mutualistic networks and even the simplest among the food web models, the cascade model, often reproduce overall structural properties of real mutualistic networks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on our results we hypothesize that processes leading to feeding hierarchy, which is a characteristic shared by all food web models, might be a fundamental aspect in the assembly of mutualisms. These findings suggest that similar underlying ecological processes might be important in organizing different types of interactions.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mathias M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Pires
authors.forename: Paulo I
authors.initials: PI
authors.lastname: Prado
authors.forename: Paulo R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Guimarães
mesh_terms: D020387:Food Chain; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008962:Models, Theoretical
references.citation: Nature. 2004 Feb 26;427(6977):835-9
references.pmid: 14985761
references.citation: Ecol Lett. 2011 Aug;14(8):816-27
references.pmid: 21679289
references.citation: Nature. 2000 Mar 9;404(6774):180-3
references.pmid: 10724169
references.citation: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2009 Jun 27;364(1524):1711-23
references.pmid: 19451122
references.citation: Ecology. 2010 May;91(5):1286-95
references.pmid: 20503862
references.citation: Ecology. 2010 Mar;91(3):793-801
references.pmid: 20426337
references.citation: Curr Biol. 2007 Oct 23;17(20):1797-803
references.pmid: 17949981
references.citation: J Theor Biol. 2011 Feb 21;271(1):106-13
references.pmid: 21144853
references.citation: J Anim Ecol. 2009 Jan;78(1):253-69
references.pmid: 19120606
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Oct 1;99(20):12917-22
references.pmid: 12235364
references.citation: Science. 2008 May 2;320(5876):658-61
references.pmid: 18451301
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Dec 11;104(50):19891-6
references.pmid: 18056808
references.citation: Nature. 2005 Feb 24;433(7028):895-900
references.pmid: 15729348
references.citation: Nature. 2009 Jan 22;457(7228):463-6
references.pmid: 19052545
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Dec 12;103(50):19015-20
references.pmid: 17146055
references.citation: Ecol Lett. 2009 Jul;12(7):652-62
references.pmid: 19453619
references.citation: PLoS Biol. 2007 Feb;5(2):e31
references.pmid: 17253905
references.citation: Science. 2009 Aug 7;325(5941):747-50
references.pmid: 19661430
references.citation: J Anim Ecol. 2008 May;77(3):512-9
references.pmid: 18284474
references.citation: Science. 2010 Aug 13;329(5993):853-6
references.pmid: 20705861
references.citation: Trends Ecol Evol. 2005 Jul;20(7):402-9
references.pmid: 16701403
references.citation: PLoS One. 2010 Aug 09;5(8):e12092
references.pmid: 20711506
references.citation: Ecol Lett. 2011 Aug;14(8):773-81
references.pmid: 21699640
references.citation: Ecol Lett. 2008 Jun;11(6):564-75
references.pmid: 18363716
references.citation: Ann Bot. 2009 Jun;103(9):1459-69
references.pmid: 19228701
references.citation: J Theor Biol. 2010 Jun 7;264(3):782-6
references.pmid: 20307548
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Aug 5;100(16):9383-7
references.pmid: 12881488
references.citation: Oecologia. 2007 Mar;151(3):442-53
references.pmid: 17080257
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2007 Feb 22;274(1609):591-8
references.pmid: 17476781
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Jan 4;108(1):197-202
references.pmid: 21173234
references.citation: Ann Bot. 2009 Jun;103(9):1445-57
references.pmid: 19304996
references.citation: Ecology. 2006 Oct;87(10):2411-7
references.pmid: 17089649
references.citation: Ecology. 2010 Nov;91(11):3123-30
references.pmid: 21141173