The architecture of antagonistic networks : node degree distribution, compartmentalization and nestedness
| dc.contributor.author | Nuwagaba, Savannah | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.author | Hui, Cang | en_ZA |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2016-02-29T09:37:44Z | en_ZA |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2021-08-26T21:27:44Z | en_ZA |
| dc.date.available | 2016-02-29T09:37:44Z | en_ZA |
| dc.date.available | 2021-08-26T21:27:44Z | en_ZA |
| dc.date.issued | 2015-12 | en_ZA |
| dc.description | CITATION: Nuwagaba, S. & Hui, C. 2015. The architecture of antagonistic networks: Node degree distribution, compartmentalization and nestedness. Computational Ecology and Software, 5: 317-327. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.abstract | ABSTRACT: Describing complex ecosystems as networks of interacting components has proved fruitful – revealing many distinctive patterns and dynamics of ecological systems. Of these patterns, three have often been brought up in literature, including species degree distribution, compartmentalization and nestedness, due largely to their implications for the functionality and stability of communities. Here, using 61 empirical antagonistic networks, we aim to settle the inconsistency in literature by (i) fitting their node degree distributions to five different parametric models and identifying the one fits the best, (ii) measuring the levels of nestedness and compartmentalization of these 61 networks and testing their significance using different null models, and (iii) exploring how network connectance affects these three network architecture metrics. This research showed that most antagonistic networks do not display power law degree distributions and that resource species are generally uniformly distributed. We also clearly showed that the conclusion of whether a network is significantly compartmentalized or nested depends largely on the null model used. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.sponsorship | 0 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.citation | Nuwagaba, S. & Hui, C. (2015) The architecture of antagonistic networks: Node degree distribution, compartmentalization and nestedness. Computational Ecology and Software, 5: 317-327. | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2220-721X | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/118373 | en_ZA |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher | International Academy of Ecology and Environmental Sciences | en_ZA |
| dc.rights.holder | Authors retain copyright | en_ZA |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Biotic communities | en_ZA |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Null models (Ecology) | en_ZA |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Ecological network | en_ZA |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Modularity (networks) | en_ZA |
| dc.subject.lcsh | UCTD | en_ZA |
| dc.title | The architecture of antagonistic networks : node degree distribution, compartmentalization and nestedness | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Article | en_ZA |