Species Interaction Networks

To gain insight into the food web structure through analysis of empirical food webs, it is necessary to disentangle the complex interdependence among the species interactions that form the food web. This article reviews some basics for making sense of species trophic (feeding) interactions and any associated nonconsumption information. It then provides some details of a more novel statistical-model-based social network analysis approach. The inference for food web structure resulting from the single rigorous quantitative analysis incorporates trophic data and any available nontrophic data, and accounts for uncertainty inherent in the data. The inference can reveal trophic patterns simultaneously from three different perspectives of feeding behavior: trophic activity, predator's preference, and so-called prey's preference.