Daniel B. Stouffer, Northwestern University
Food webs, the set of predator-prey interactions in an ecosystem, are a
prototypical complex system. Much research to date has concentrated on
predicting and identifying the key structural features which describe
them. More recently, the tools of network theory have been utilized to
provide further understanding. However, it is not always clear how
directly network metrics or measures translate to additional ecological
insights. I will discuss recent examples where these insights are and
are not readily apparent, in addition to whether or not one can infer
species' or individual's characteristics from global food web
properties.