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Review: Ecological networks – beyond food webs

Overview of attention for article published in Journal of Animal Ecology, December 2008
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About this Attention Score

  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (71st percentile)
  • Average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source

Mentioned by

facebook
1 Facebook page
wikipedia
3 Wikipedia pages

Citations

dimensions_citation
761 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
2033 Mendeley
citeulike
3 CiteULike
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Title
Review: Ecological networks – beyond food webs
Published in
Journal of Animal Ecology, December 2008
DOI 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2008.01460.x
Pubmed ID
Authors

Thomas C. Ings, José M. Montoya, Jordi Bascompte, Nico Blüthgen, Lee Brown, Carsten F. Dormann, François Edwards, David Figueroa, Ute Jacob, J. Iwan Jones, Rasmus B. Lauridsen, Mark E. Ledger, Hannah M. Lewis, Jens M. Olesen, F.J. Frank Van Veen, Phil H. Warren, Guy Woodward

Abstract

1. A fundamental goal of ecological network research is to understand how the complexity observed in nature can persist and how this affects ecosystem functioning. This is essential for us to be able to predict, and eventually mitigate, the consequences of increasing environmental perturbations such as habitat loss, climate change, and invasions of exotic species. 2. Ecological networks can be subdivided into three broad types: 'traditional' food webs, mutualistic networks and host-parasitoid networks. There is a recent trend towards cross-comparisons among network types and also to take a more mechanistic, as opposed to phenomenological, perspective. For example, analysis of network configurations, such as compartments, allows us to explore the role of co-evolution in structuring mutualistic networks and host-parasitoid networks, and of body size in food webs. 3. Research into ecological networks has recently undergone a renaissance, leading to the production of a new catalogue of evermore complete, taxonomically resolved, and quantitative data. Novel topological patterns have been unearthed and it is increasingly evident that it is the distribution of interaction strengths and the configuration of complexity, rather than just its magnitude, that governs network stability and structure. 4. Another significant advance is the growing recognition of the importance of individual traits and behaviour: interactions, after all, occur between individuals. The new generation of high-quality networks is now enabling us to move away from describing networks based on species-averaged data and to start exploring patterns based on individuals. Such refinements will enable us to address more general ecological questions relating to foraging theory and the recent metabolic theory of ecology. 5. We conclude by suggesting a number of 'dead ends' and 'fruitful avenues' for future research into ecological networks.

Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 2,033 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Brazil 48 2%
United States 34 2%
United Kingdom 18 <1%
Spain 16 <1%
France 15 <1%
Germany 9 <1%
Canada 9 <1%
Sweden 8 <1%
Colombia 7 <1%
Other 61 3%
Unknown 1808 89%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 483 24%
Researcher 406 20%
Student > Master 284 14%
Student > Bachelor 191 9%
Student > Doctoral Student 115 6%
Other 333 16%
Unknown 221 11%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 1112 55%
Environmental Science 438 22%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 34 2%
Earth and Planetary Sciences 29 1%
Computer Science 15 <1%
Other 92 5%
Unknown 313 15%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 05 December 2021.
All research outputs
#7,917,330
of 24,520,935 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Animal Ecology
#1,914
of 3,154 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#49,127
of 174,202 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Animal Ecology
#9
of 15 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,520,935 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 67th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,154 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 19.4. This one is in the 38th percentile – i.e., 38% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 174,202 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 71% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 15 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 40th percentile – i.e., 40% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.