On the calculation of betweenness centrality in marine connectivity studies using transfer probabilities

Andrea Costa; Anne A Petrenko; Katell Guizien; Andrea M Doglioli

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0189021

On the calculation of betweenness centrality in marine connectivity studies using transfer probabilities

PLoS One. 2017 Dec 12;12(12):e0189021. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189021. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Andrea Costa¹, Anne A Petrenko¹, Katell Guizien², Andrea M Doglioli¹

Affiliations

¹ Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Université de Toulon, IRD, OSU Pythéas, Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO), UM 110, 13288, Marseille, France.
² Laboratoire d'Ecogeochimie des Environnements Benthique, CNRS, Université Paris VI, UMR 8222, Av. du Fontaule - F-66651 Banyuls-sur-Mer, France.

Abstract

Betweenness has been used in a number of marine studies to identify portions of sea that sustain the connectivity of whole marine networks. Herein we highlight the need of methodological exactness in the calculation of betweenness when graph theory is applied to marine connectivity studies based on transfer probabilities. We show the inconsistency in calculating betweeness directly from transfer probabilities and propose a new metric for the node-to-node distance that solves it. Our argumentation is illustrated by both simple theoretical examples and the analysis of a literature data set.

MeSH terms

Models, Theoretical*
Probability*
Seawater*

Grants and funding

Andrea Costa was financed by a MENRT Ph.D. grant. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under Grant Agreement No. 287844 for the project ‘Towards COast to COast NETworks of marine protected areas (from the shore to the high and deep sea), coupled with sea-based wind energy potential’ (COCONET). The project leading to this publication has received funding from European FEDER Fund under project 1166-39417.