Network Analyses Can Advance Above-Belowground Ecology

Kelly S Ramirez; Stefan Geisen; Elly Morriën; Basten L Snoek; Wim H van der Putten

doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2018.06.009

Network Analyses Can Advance Above-Belowground Ecology

Trends Plant Sci. 2018 Sep;23(9):759-768. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2018.06.009. Epub 2018 Jul 30.

Authors

Kelly S Ramirez¹, Stefan Geisen², Elly Morriën³, Basten L Snoek⁴, Wim H van der Putten²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), P.O. Box 50, 6700 AB, Wageningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: k.ramirez@nioo.knaw.nl.
² Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), P.O. Box 50, 6700 AB, Wageningen, The Netherlands; Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8123, 6700 ES, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
³ Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), P.O. Box 50, 6700 AB, Wageningen, The Netherlands; Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics (IBED-ELD), University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94248, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), P.O. Box 50, 6700 AB, Wageningen, The Netherlands; Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8123, 6700 ES, Wageningen, The Netherlands; Theoretical Biology and Bioinformatics, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands.

PMID: 30072227
DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2018.06.009

Abstract

An understanding of above-belowground (AG-BG) ecology is important for evaluating how plant interactions with enemies, symbionts, and decomposers affect species diversity and will respond to global changes. However, research questions and experiments often focus on only a limited number of interactions, creating an incomplete picture of how entire communities may be involved in AG-BG community ecology. Therefore, a pressing challenge is to formulate hypotheses of AG-BG interactions when considering communities in their full complexity. Here we discuss how network analyses can be a powerful tool to progress AG-BG research, link across scales from individual to community and ecosystem, visualize community interactions between the two (AG and BG) subsystems, and develop testable hypotheses.

Keywords: community ecology; global change; species interactions; terrestrial ecology.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Big Data
Biodiversity
Correlation of Data
Ecology*
Ecosystem*
Plant Components, Aerial / physiology*
Plant Physiological Phenomena*
Plant Roots / physiology
Plants*