NCEAS Project 12062

Reverse engineering of ecological networks: From the disassembly to the construction of robust networks

• Allesina, Stefano

Abstract
Molecular biologists study how a gene works in an organism by switching it off, engineers try to replicate the functioning of a device by taking it apart and studying how its components are wired together, archaeologists reconstruct ancient machinery by examining fragments buried for centuries: these are all examples of reverse engineering. This approach is usually precluded to ecologists given the potentially dramatic consequences of disturbing ecosystems, except in mathematical models and ?in silico? simulations of scenarios. I intend to study the patterns of secondary extinctions in ecological networks using mathematical and simulation models. In particular, I will try to identify which building blocks or network motifs confer robustness to ecological systems. The research on networks robustness has been so far dominated by the study of ?hubs? or most connected species, and has typically included only static analyses. I will focus not only on predator-prey interactions, but also on other major constituents of ecological networks, such as parasitism, pollination and mutualism in a dynamic context, with the ultimate goal of understanding how to assemble robust networks. The ?hubs? based approach will be substituted by a functional approach in which the relative importance of the components of a network is explicitly evaluated.

• Overview
• Ecology Core Program
• Conservation & Resource Management Program
• Ecoinformatics Program
• Call for Proposals
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