Parasites affect food web structure primarily through increased diversity and complexity.

Comparative research on food web structure has revealed generalities in trophic organization, produced simple models, and allowed assessment of robustness to species loss. These studies have mostly focused on free-living species. Recent research has suggested that inclusion of parasites alters struc...

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Autores principales: Jennifer A Dunne, Kevin D Lafferty, Andrew P Dobson, Ryan F Hechinger, Armand M Kuris, Neo D Martinez, John P McLaughlin, Kim N Mouritsen, Robert Poulin, Karsten Reise, Daniel B Stouffer, David W Thieltges, Richard J Williams, Claus Dieter Zander
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Publicado: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:16d85074fe404119ae58abac92a681c52021-11-18T05:37:04ZParasites affect food web structure primarily through increased diversity and complexity.1544-91731545-788510.1371/journal.pbio.1001579https://doaj.org/article/16d85074fe404119ae58abac92a681c52013-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/23776404/pdf/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1544-9173https://doaj.org/toc/1545-7885Comparative research on food web structure has revealed generalities in trophic organization, produced simple models, and allowed assessment of robustness to species loss. These studies have mostly focused on free-living species. Recent research has suggested that inclusion of parasites alters structure. We assess whether such changes in network structure result from unique roles and traits of parasites or from changes to diversity and complexity. We analyzed seven highly resolved food webs that include metazoan parasite data. Our analyses show that adding parasites usually increases link density and connectance (simple measures of complexity), particularly when including concomitant links (links from predators to parasites of their prey). However, we clarify prior claims that parasites "dominate" food web links. Although parasites can be involved in a majority of links, in most cases classic predation links outnumber classic parasitism links. Regarding network structure, observed changes in degree distributions, 14 commonly studied metrics, and link probabilities are consistent with scale-dependent changes in structure associated with changes in diversity and complexity. Parasite and free-living species thus have similar effects on these aspects of structure. However, two changes point to unique roles of parasites. First, adding parasites and concomitant links strongly alters the frequency of most motifs of interactions among three taxa, reflecting parasites' roles as resources for predators of their hosts, driven by trophic intimacy with their hosts. Second, compared to free-living consumers, many parasites' feeding niches appear broader and less contiguous, which may reflect complex life cycles and small body sizes. This study provides new insights about generic versus unique impacts of parasites on food web structure, extends the generality of food web theory, gives a more rigorous framework for assessing the impact of any species on trophic organization, identifies limitations of current food web models, and provides direction for future structural and dynamical models.Jennifer A DunneKevin D LaffertyAndrew P DobsonRyan F HechingerArmand M KurisNeo D MartinezJohn P McLaughlinKim N MouritsenRobert PoulinKarsten ReiseDaniel B StoufferDavid W ThieltgesRichard J WilliamsClaus Dieter ZanderPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleBiology (General)QH301-705.5ENPLoS Biology, Vol 11, Iss 6, p e1001579 (2013)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Biology (General)
QH301-705.5
spellingShingle Biology (General)
QH301-705.5
Jennifer A Dunne
Kevin D Lafferty
Andrew P Dobson
Ryan F Hechinger
Armand M Kuris
Neo D Martinez
John P McLaughlin
Kim N Mouritsen
Robert Poulin
Karsten Reise
Daniel B Stouffer
David W Thieltges
Richard J Williams
Claus Dieter Zander
Parasites affect food web structure primarily through increased diversity and complexity.
description Comparative research on food web structure has revealed generalities in trophic organization, produced simple models, and allowed assessment of robustness to species loss. These studies have mostly focused on free-living species. Recent research has suggested that inclusion of parasites alters structure. We assess whether such changes in network structure result from unique roles and traits of parasites or from changes to diversity and complexity. We analyzed seven highly resolved food webs that include metazoan parasite data. Our analyses show that adding parasites usually increases link density and connectance (simple measures of complexity), particularly when including concomitant links (links from predators to parasites of their prey). However, we clarify prior claims that parasites "dominate" food web links. Although parasites can be involved in a majority of links, in most cases classic predation links outnumber classic parasitism links. Regarding network structure, observed changes in degree distributions, 14 commonly studied metrics, and link probabilities are consistent with scale-dependent changes in structure associated with changes in diversity and complexity. Parasite and free-living species thus have similar effects on these aspects of structure. However, two changes point to unique roles of parasites. First, adding parasites and concomitant links strongly alters the frequency of most motifs of interactions among three taxa, reflecting parasites' roles as resources for predators of their hosts, driven by trophic intimacy with their hosts. Second, compared to free-living consumers, many parasites' feeding niches appear broader and less contiguous, which may reflect complex life cycles and small body sizes. This study provides new insights about generic versus unique impacts of parasites on food web structure, extends the generality of food web theory, gives a more rigorous framework for assessing the impact of any species on trophic organization, identifies limitations of current food web models, and provides direction for future structural and dynamical models.
format article
author Jennifer A Dunne
Kevin D Lafferty
Andrew P Dobson
Ryan F Hechinger
Armand M Kuris
Neo D Martinez
John P McLaughlin
Kim N Mouritsen
Robert Poulin
Karsten Reise
Daniel B Stouffer
David W Thieltges
Richard J Williams
Claus Dieter Zander
author_facet Jennifer A Dunne
Kevin D Lafferty
Andrew P Dobson
Ryan F Hechinger
Armand M Kuris
Neo D Martinez
John P McLaughlin
Kim N Mouritsen
Robert Poulin
Karsten Reise
Daniel B Stouffer
David W Thieltges
Richard J Williams
Claus Dieter Zander
author_sort Jennifer A Dunne
title Parasites affect food web structure primarily through increased diversity and complexity.
title_short Parasites affect food web structure primarily through increased diversity and complexity.
title_full Parasites affect food web structure primarily through increased diversity and complexity.
title_fullStr Parasites affect food web structure primarily through increased diversity and complexity.
title_full_unstemmed Parasites affect food web structure primarily through increased diversity and complexity.
title_sort parasites affect food web structure primarily through increased diversity and complexity.
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate 2013
url https://doaj.org/article/16d85074fe404119ae58abac92a681c5
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