Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Small world patterns in food webs.

Jose M Montoya1, Ricard V Sol

  • 1Complex Systems Research Group, FEN, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Campus Nord B4, 08304 Barcelona, Spain.

Journal of Theoretical Biology
|February 16, 2002
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Towards Key Principles of Host-Associated Microbiome Assembly.

Ecology letters·2026
Same author

A finely annotated dataset for the automated acoustic identification of European Orthoptera and Cicadidae.

Scientific data·2026
Same author

Whole-stream wastewater addition stimulates the green food web pathway but does not affect food chain length.

Hydrobiologia·2026
Same author

Overcoming the disconnect between species interaction networks and biodiversity conservation.

Trends in ecology & evolution·2025
Same author

Microplastics alter the functioning of marine microbial ecosystems.

Ecology and evolution·2024
Same author

A mechanistic framework for complex microbe-host symbioses.

Trends in microbiology·2024
Same journal

Evolution of quantitative traits: exploring the ecological, social and genetic bases of adaptive polymorphism.

Journal of theoretical biology·2026
Same journal

The male-biased sex ratio in humans and its role in the transition from promiscuity to pair bonding.

Journal of theoretical biology·2026
Same journal

Quantifying the counter-intuitive effects of vaccination by coupling the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 and the evolution of human behaviors.

Journal of theoretical biology·2026
Same journal

An integrative model of FGF2-induced signaling and muscle cell proliferation.

Journal of theoretical biology·2026
Same journal

A hybrid reaction-diffusion and mechanical stimulus model for mandibular bone remodeling under chewing and vibratory loading.

Journal of theoretical biology·2026
Same journal

Integrated tick management strategies in fragmented peridomestic environments.

Journal of theoretical biology·2026
See all related articles

Complex food webs exhibit small-world network properties, characterized by high clustering and short path lengths. This suggests non-random self-organization in ecological communities, impacting their resilience to disturbances.

Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Network Science
  • Complex Systems

Background:

  • Ecological food webs are complex systems with intricate species interactions.
  • Previous research has explored network properties in various complex systems.
  • Understanding food web structure is crucial for predicting ecosystem stability.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the network structure of species-rich food webs.
  • To determine if these food webs exhibit small-world network characteristics.
  • To investigate the implications of observed network properties for community organization and stability.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of three well-defined, species-rich food webs: Ythan estuary, Silwood, and Little Rock Lake.
  • Quantification of network metrics including clustering coefficient and characteristic path length.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Examination of the degree distribution P(k) to identify scaling properties.

    • Main Results:

    • All analyzed food webs demonstrated small-world behavior.
    • High clustering and short path lengths (approximately two degrees of separation) were consistently observed.
    • Degree distributions showed skewed, power-law scaling with long tails.

    Conclusions:

    • Ecological food webs exhibit non-random, self-organized structures.
    • Small-world properties suggest efficient information or energy transfer within communities.
    • These structural features may enhance ecosystem resistance to perturbations like species removal.