Abstract
AbstractFood webs represent the trophic interactions among species in communities. Those interactions both structure and are structured by species richness, ecological diversity, and evolutionary processes. Geological and macroevolutionary timescales are therefore important to the understanding of food web dynamics, and there is a need for proper reconstruction and analysis of paleocommunity food webs. The fossil record presents many challenges, but the problem may be approached with combinatoric analysis, and graph and network theories. This paper is a brief introduction to the aspects of those disciplines relevant to the study of paleo-food webs, and explores several probabilistic and numerical approaches.
Highlights
THIS contribution an introduction for students of paleontology to graph and network theories, and an exploration of their current and potential applications to paleofood web analysis
The results show clearly that the dynamics of the aftermath community, LAZ, differs substantially from the preextinction Dicynodon Assemblage Zone (DAZ) and the perhaps more fully recovered Cynognathus Assemblage Zone (CAZ) (Fig. 14)
Food webs can be represented as mathematical graphs, weighted digraphs and networks
Summary
THIS contribution an introduction for students of paleontology to graph and network theories, and an exploration of their current and potential applications to paleofood web analysis. Food webs represent the trophic interactions among species in communities. Species in the food web are nodes, and trophic interactions or links are edges.
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