Integrative Ecology Group, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Sevilla, Spain.
Science. 2012 Mar 23;335(6075):1489-92. doi: 10.1126/science.1216556.
Studies of ecological networks (the web of interactions between species in a community) demonstrate an intricate link between a community's structure and its long-term viability. It remains unclear, however, how much a community's persistence depends on the identities of the species present, or how much the role played by each species varies as a function of the community in which it is found. We measured species' roles by studying how species are embedded within the overall network and the subsequent dynamic implications. Using data from 32 empirical food webs, we find that species' roles and dynamic importance are inherent species attributes and can be extrapolated across communities on the basis of taxonomic classification alone. Our results illustrate the variability of roles across species and communities and the relative importance of distinct species groups when attempting to conserve ecological communities.
生态网络（群落中物种间相互作用的网络）的研究表明，群落的结构与其长期生存能力之间存在着错综复杂的联系。然而，目前尚不清楚一个群落的持久性在多大程度上取决于其存在的物种的身份，或者每个物种的作用在多大程度上随其所在的群落而变化。我们通过研究物种在整个网络中的嵌入方式及其后续的动态影响来衡量物种的作用。利用来自 32 个经验性食物网的数据，我们发现物种的作用和动态重要性是固有的物种属性，并且可以仅根据分类学分类就推断出它们在群落之间的情况。我们的研究结果说明了物种和群落之间的角色多样性，以及在试图保护生态群落时，不同物种群体的相对重要性。
