Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48823, USA.
Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California, Merced, CA, 95343, USA.
Sci Rep. 2020 Oct 7;10(1):16657. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-73591-2.
Rapid increases in meat trade generate complex global networks across countries. However, there has been little research quantifying the dynamics of meat trade networks and the underlying forces that structure them. Using longitudinal network data for 134 countries from 1995 to 2015, we combined network modeling and cluster analysis to simultaneously identify the structural changes in meat trade networks and the factors that influence the networks themselves. The integrated network approach uncovers a general consolidation of global meat trade networks over time, although some global events may have weakened this consolidation both regionally and globally. In consolidated networks, the presence of trade agreements and short geographic distances between pairs of countries are associated with increases in meat trade. Countries with rapid population and income growth greatly depend on meat imports. Furthermore, countries with high food availability import large quantities of meat products to satisfy their various meat preferences. The findings from this network approach provide key insights that can be used to better understand the social and environmental consequences of increasing global meat trade.
肉类贸易的迅速增长在各国之间产生了复杂的全球网络。然而，对于量化肉类贸易网络的动态以及构建这些网络的潜在力量的研究却很少。本文利用 1995 年至 2015 年期间 134 个国家的纵向网络数据，结合网络建模和聚类分析，同时确定了肉类贸易网络的结构变化以及影响网络本身的因素。综合网络方法揭示了全球肉类贸易网络随着时间的推移而普遍整合，尽管一些全球性事件可能在区域和全球范围内削弱了这种整合。在整合的网络中，贸易协定的存在和国家之间的地理距离较短与肉类贸易的增加有关。人口和收入增长迅速的国家在很大程度上依赖于肉类进口。此外，食品供应充足的国家进口大量的肉类产品来满足其各种肉类偏好。这种网络方法的研究结果提供了关键的见解，可以用来更好地理解不断增长的全球肉类贸易对社会和环境的影响。
