James Brody
November 24th, 2008, 12:36 PM
I should love this article: it "pushes" the advantages that network approaches can bring to ecology but "hubs-oriented" approaches appear to have difficulty with the ability of small-scale, weak links to maintain organizations even after there are holes where once there were hubs...
JimB
Open Access at PNAS:
Network analysis identifies weak and strong links in a metapopulation system
Rozenfleda AF, Arnaud-Haond S, Hernandez-Garcia, E, Eguluz VM, Serro EA, & Duarte CM (2008) PNAS, Early Edition.
Abstract
The identification of key populations shaping the structure and connectivity of metapopulation systems is a major challenge in population ecology. The use of molecular markers in the theoretical framework of population genetics has allowed great advances in this field, but the prime question of quantifying the role of each population in the system remains unresolved. Furthermore, the use and interpretation of classical methods are still bounded by the need for a priori information and underlying assumptions that are seldom respected in natural systems. Network theory was applied to map the genetic structure in a metapopulation system by using microsatellite data from populations of a threatened seagrass, Posidonia oceanica, across its whole geographical range. The network approach, free from a priori assumptions and from the usual underlying hypotheses required for the interpretation of classical analyses, allows both the straightforward characterization of hierarchical population structure and the detection of populations acting as hubs critical for relaying gene flow or sustaining the metapopulation system. This development opens perspectives in ecology and evolution in general, particularly in areas such as conservation biology and epidemiology, where targeting specific populations is crucial.
Http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2008/11/20/0805571105.abstract
See also:
Barabási, A-L (2002) Linked: The New Science of Networks. NY: Perseus.
Csermely, Peter (2006) Weak Links: Stabilizers of Complex Systems from Proteins to Social Networks. NY: Springer.
Garas, Antonios, Panos Argyrakis, and Shlomo Havlin (2008) The structural role of strong and weak links in a financial network. arXiv 0805.2477v1
[Physics.soc.ph], May 16.
Watts, D. & Strogatz, S. (1998) Collective dynamics of 'small-world' networks. Nature. 393: 440-442. (The most cited paper in recent history! And still a good intro...)
JimB
Open Access at PNAS:
Network analysis identifies weak and strong links in a metapopulation system
Rozenfleda AF, Arnaud-Haond S, Hernandez-Garcia, E, Eguluz VM, Serro EA, & Duarte CM (2008) PNAS, Early Edition.
Abstract
The identification of key populations shaping the structure and connectivity of metapopulation systems is a major challenge in population ecology. The use of molecular markers in the theoretical framework of population genetics has allowed great advances in this field, but the prime question of quantifying the role of each population in the system remains unresolved. Furthermore, the use and interpretation of classical methods are still bounded by the need for a priori information and underlying assumptions that are seldom respected in natural systems. Network theory was applied to map the genetic structure in a metapopulation system by using microsatellite data from populations of a threatened seagrass, Posidonia oceanica, across its whole geographical range. The network approach, free from a priori assumptions and from the usual underlying hypotheses required for the interpretation of classical analyses, allows both the straightforward characterization of hierarchical population structure and the detection of populations acting as hubs critical for relaying gene flow or sustaining the metapopulation system. This development opens perspectives in ecology and evolution in general, particularly in areas such as conservation biology and epidemiology, where targeting specific populations is crucial.
Http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2008/11/20/0805571105.abstract
See also:
Barabási, A-L (2002) Linked: The New Science of Networks. NY: Perseus.
Csermely, Peter (2006) Weak Links: Stabilizers of Complex Systems from Proteins to Social Networks. NY: Springer.
Garas, Antonios, Panos Argyrakis, and Shlomo Havlin (2008) The structural role of strong and weak links in a financial network. arXiv 0805.2477v1
[Physics.soc.ph], May 16.
Watts, D. & Strogatz, S. (1998) Collective dynamics of 'small-world' networks. Nature. 393: 440-442. (The most cited paper in recent history! And still a good intro...)