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Origin of compartmentalization in food webs
Open accessAbstract
The response of an ecosystem to perturbations is mediated by both antagonistic and facilitative interactions between species. It is thought that a community's resilience depends crucially on the food web—the network of trophic interactions—and on the food web's degree of compartmentalization. Despite its ecological importance, compartmentalization and the mechanisms that give rise to it remain poorly understood. Here we investigate several definitions of compartments, propose ways to understand the ecological meaning of these definitions, and quantify the degree of compartmentalization of empirical food webs. We find that the compartmentalization observed in empirical food webs can be accounted for solely by the niche organization of species and their diets. By uncovering connections between compartmentalization and species' diet contiguity, our findings help us understand which perturbations can result in fragmentation of the food web and which can lead to catastrophic effects. Additionally, we show that the composition of compartments can be used to address the long‐standing question of what determines the ecological niche of a species.
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“a feature commonly observed in complex ecological networks and thought to enhance their stability and persistence”
From A Food Web Model of the Serengeti: Stability, Dynamics and Indirect Effects (2026) · cites this paper as Guimerà et al. 2010
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“mmunities-clusters in food webs), where species within the same compartment interact frequently among each other, but show fewer interactions between species of dierent compartments (see e.g., Refs. [133,134,135]). The existence of community structure in food webs is an important property, due it its relationship to t…”
BackgroundInfluential
Metadata
- Authors
- Guimerà, R., Stouffer, D. B., Sales-Pardo, M., Leicht, E. A., Newman, M. E. J., & Amaral, L. A. N.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Corresponding author
- Guimerà, R.
- Venue
- Ecology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2010-10
- Volume
- 91
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 2941-2951
- ISSN
- 0012-9658 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-9170
- OpenAlex
- W2133439349
- Cited by
- 201
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 27 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 33 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 7.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Locations
- Ecology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) (University of Oxford) (acceptedVersion)
- Deep Blue (University of Michigan) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0804778, 0624318)
- W. M. Keck Foundation
- James S. McDonnell Foundation
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Applied Mathematics › Mathematical and Theoretical Epidemiology and Ecology Models
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Sustainability and Ecological Systems Analysis
- Keywords
- trophic interactions, ecological niche, ecosystem resilience, perturbation response
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Feeding Behavior, Models, Biological, Food Chain
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