Ecological network analysis: network construction

Brian D. Fath, Ursula M. Scharler, Robert E. Ulanowicz and Bruce Hannon

Ecological Modelling, 2007, vol. 208, issue 1, 49-55

Abstract: Ecological network analysis (ENA) is a systems-oriented methodology to analyze within system interactions used to identify holistic properties that are otherwise not evident from the direct observations. Like any analysis technique, the accuracy of the results is as good as the data available, but the additional challenge is that the data need to characterize an entire ecosystem's flows and storages. Thus, data requirements are substantial. As a result, there have, in fact, not been a significant number of network models constructed and development of the network analysis methodology has progressed largely within the purview of a few established models. In this paper, we outline the steps for one approach to construct network models. Lastly, we also provide a brief overview of the algorithmic methods used to construct food web typologies when empirical data are not available. It is our aim that such an effort aids other researchers to consider the construction of such models as well as encourages further refinement of this procedure.

Keywords: Ascendency; Ecological network analysis; Food webs; Systems analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (52)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380007002517
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:208:y:2007:i:1:p:49-55

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2007.04.029

Access Statistics for this article

Ecological Modelling is currently edited by Brian D. Fath

More articles in Ecological Modelling from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().