Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1038/s41598-020-70052-8
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Network science applied to forest megaplots: tropical tree species coexist in small-world networks
Author Schmid, J.S.; Taubert, F.; Wiegand, T.; Sun, I.-F.; Huth, A.
Source Titel Scientific Reports
Year 2020
Department OESA
Volume 10
Page From art. 13198
Language englisch
Data and Software links https://doi.org/10.15146/5xcp-0d46
Supplements https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41598-020-70052-8/MediaObjects/41598_2020_70052_MOESM1_ESM.pdf
Keywords Cancer; Cancer imaging
Abstract Network analysis is an important tool to analyze the structure of complex systems such as tropical forests. Here, we infer spatial proximity networks in tropical forests by using network science. First, we focus on tree neighborhoods to derive spatial tree networks from forest inventory data. In a second step, we construct species networks to describe the potential for interactions between species. We find remarkably similar tree and species networks among tropical forests in Panama, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. Across these sites only 32 to 51% of all possible connections between species pairs were realized in the species networks. The species networks show the common small-world property and constant node degree distributions not yet described and explained by network science. Our application of network analysis to forest ecology provides a new approach in biodiversity research to quantify spatial neighborhood structures for better understanding interactions between tree species. Our analyses show that details of tree positions and sizes have no important influence on the detected network structures. This suggests existence of simple principles underlying the complex interactions in tropical forests.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=23400
Schmid, J.S., Taubert, F., Wiegand, T., Sun, I.-F., Huth, A. (2020):
Network science applied to forest megaplots: tropical tree species coexist in small-world networks
Sci. Rep. 10 , art. 13198 10.1038/s41598-020-70052-8