April Special Issue on Ecological networks

Submitted by editor on 8 April 2016.

April special issue on Ecological networks: assembly and consequences

In the editorial of our special Oikos issue ‘Ecological networks: assembly and consequences’ Paulo R. Guimarães Jr. and I explain that ecological systems are problems of organized complexity, composed of interrelated elements which form networks with particular properties. Visualizing and studying ecological networks enables revealing the underlying processes that shape network structures as well as the consequences of network structures for the way ecological systems respond to different external factors. In the last years the use of networks in ecology has rapidly expanded from more traditional descriptions of food webs to the characterization of a wide range of ecological systems as illustrated by this Oikos special issue. These studies collectively explore the workings of processes that shape networks and the functional consequences of network organization of ecological systems.

Gerlinde B. De Deyn, DEiC, Oikos

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