Abstract
In complex, modern food webs, the analysis of pairwise interactions gives weak predictions of the behaviour of either single species or the whole community. Indirect effects call for explicit study and quantification. However, just as focusing only on pairwise interactions is incorrect, overemphasising the role of long, indirect pathways also seems to be unrealistic. Thus, a reasonable range of indirect trophic effects spreading through the food web is to be defined and quantified. I suggest a graph theoretical measure for quantifying this range, considering only network position (topology). I call this the trophic field of a species (or trophic group), recalling the idea that field theory could be a fruitful research programme in biology. Further, I propose a measure for the quantification of the indirect component of the trophic field. Finally, the use of introduced concepts and indices is illustrated by analysing the trophic flow network of the Schlei Fjord ecosystem (N. Germany).
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Acknowledgements
I thank Professor Gábor Vida, István Molnár and István Scheuring for helpful discussions, Cornelia Nauen for her kindness to provide very helpful materials, Tim Wyatt for excellent discussions and for calling my attention to wasp-waist ecosystems, Professor Henrik Jensen for encouragement, and two anonymous Referees for constructive criticism. The Organisers of the ABUDIV 2001 conference are acknowledged for their invitation. Finally, the staff members at Collegium Budapest (especially Hédi and Kati) are also kindly acknowledged for perfect technical support. My work was funded by two grants of the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA F 029800, OTKA F 035092), and supported by a Bolyai Research Grant of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
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Jordán, F. Trophic fields. COMMUNITY ECOLOGY 2, 181–185 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1556/ComEc.2.2001.2.5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/ComEc.2.2001.2.5