Structure Of Ecological Networks Research Articles

Construction of ecological network in Qujing city based on MSPA and MCR models.

With the rapid advancement of urbanization and industrialization, ecological patches within cities and towns are fragmented and ecological corridors are cut off, regional ecological security is threatened and sustainable development is hindered. Building an ecological network that conforms to regional realities can connect fragmented patches, protect biodiversity and regional characteristics, and provide scientific reference for regional ecological protection and ecological network planning. By taking Qilin District, the main urban area of Qujing City as an example, and using geospatial data as the main data source, based on morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) and minimum cumulative resistance (MCR), this study identified ecological source areas, extracted ecological corridors, and build & optimize ecological networks. (1) All landscape types are identified based on MSPA, the proportion of core area was the highest among all landscape types, which was 80.69%, combined with the connectivity evaluation, 14 important ecological source areas were selected. (2) 91 potential ecological corridors were extracted through MCR and gravity models, there were 16 important ones. (3) The network connectivity analysis method is used to calculate the α, β, and γ indexes of the ecological network before optimization, which were 2.36, 6.5, and 2.53, while after optimization, α, β and γ indices were 3.8, 9.5 and 3.5, respectively. The combined application of MSPA-MCR model and ecological network connectivity analysis evaluation is conducive to improving the structure and functionality of ecological network.

Telling mutualistic and antagonistic ecological networks apart by learning their multiscale structure

Abstract Characterizing and understanding the processes that shape the structure of ecological networks, which represent who interacts with whom in a community, has many implications in ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation. A highly debated question is whether and how the structure of a bipartite ecological network differs between antagonistic (e.g. herbivory) and mutualistic (e.g. pollination) interaction types. Here, we tackle this question by using a multiscale characterization of network structure, machine learning tools, and a large database of empirical and simulated bipartite networks. Contrary to previous studies focusing on global structural metrics, such as nestedness and modularity, which concluded that antagonistic and mutualistic networks cannot be told apart from only their structure, we find that they can be told apart by combining a meso‐scale characterization of their structure and supervised machine learning. Motif frequencies appear particularly informative, with an over‐representation of densely connected motifs in antagonistic networks and of motifs with asymmetrical specialization in mutualistic networks. These structural properties can be used to predict the type of interaction with relatively good confidence. Beyond this classical mutualism/antagonism dichotomy, we also find significant structural uniqueness linked to specific ecologies (e.g. pollination, parasitism). Our results clarify structural differences between antagonistic and mutualistic networks and suggest the investigation of the structural uniqueness of specific ecologies as a promising approach for characterizing interactions beyond the coarse antagonistic/mutualistic dichotomy.

Perspectives in modelling ecological interaction networks for sustainable ecosystem management

Abstract The concept of ecological interaction networks has been widely used in fundamental ecology in the last two decades and has progressively infused in a diverse array of applied studies. Classical studies represented species interactions as static interaction webs to identify generalities in the structure of ecological networks and understand the propagation of indirect effects of species on each other and the environment. More recent research demonstrates that ecological networks are emerging features of community and interaction processes. Understanding the determinants of interaction variability in space and time and its consequences for biodiversity dynamics and ecosystem functioning constitute current frontiers in ecological network science. Although these frontiers meet a variety of applied ecological questions, many network models have been developed without clear applied perspectives. We detail how we could build on them to advance three main topics. First, the spatial dimension of ecological networks has direct implications for the design of sustainable landscapes and fisheries, for agroecology and for lake management. Second, the temporal dimension of ecological networks provides important insights for projecting biodiversity changes and adapting human actions. Third, the interactions between the abiotic and biotic components of ecosystems constitute key drivers of biogeochemical cycles, thereby providing important levers for sustainable management. Synthesis and applications. Collaborative work between empirical and theoretical network ecologists could accelerate the delivery of realistic models to inform applied practices across disciplines.

The structure and robustness of ecological networks with two interaction types.

Until recently, most ecological network analyses investigating the effects of species' declines and extinctions have focused on a single type of interaction (e.g. feeding). In nature, however, diverse interactions co-occur, each of them forming a layer of a 'multilayer' network. Data including information on multiple interaction types has recently started to emerge, giving us the opportunity to have a first glance at possible commonalities in the structure of these networks. We studied the structural features of 44 tripartite ecological networks from the literature, each composed of two layers of interactions (e.g. herbivory and pollination), and investigated their robustness to species losses. Considering two interactions simultaneously, we found that the robustness of the whole community is a combination of the robustness of the two ecological networks composing it. The way in which the layers of interactions are connected to each other affects the interdependence of their robustness. In many networks, this interdependence is low, suggesting that restoration efforts would not automatically propagate through the whole community. Our results highlight the importance of considering multiple interactions simultaneously to better gauge the robustness of ecological communities to species loss and to more reliably identify key species that are important for the persistence of ecological communities.

Adaptive rewiring shapes structure and stability in a three-guild herbivore-plant-pollinator network

Animal species, encompassing both pollinators and herbivores, exhibit a preference for plants based on optimal foraging theory. Understanding the intricacies of these adaptive plant-animal interactions in the context of community assembly poses a main challenge in ecology. This study delves into the impact of adaptive interaction rewiring between species belonging to different guilds on the structure and stability of a 3-guild ecological network, incorporating both mutualistic and antagonistic interactions. Our findings reveal that adaptive rewiring results in sub-networks becoming more nested and compartmentalized. Furthermore, the rewiring of interactions uncovers a positive correlation between a plant’s generalism concerning both pollinators and herbivores. Additionally, there is a positive correlation between a plant’s degree centrality and its energy budget. Although network stability does not exhibit a clear relationship with non-random structures, it is primarily influenced by the balance of multiple interaction strengths. In summary, our results underscore the significance of adaptive interaction rewiring in shaping the structure of 3-guild networks. They emphasize the importance of considering the balance of multiple interactions for the stability of adaptive networks, providing valuable insights into the complex dynamics of ecological communities.

Assessment and optimization of urban ecological network resilience based on disturbance scenario simulations: A case study of Nanjing city

Urbanization has serious implications for the structure and function of ecological networks. Augmenting resilience offers a salient remedy to sustain ecological network stability, thereby leading to heightened ecological efficacy. Nevertheless, extant research pertaining to ecological network resilience predominantly centers around static assessment, disregarding the external dynamic disturbances as well as changes in resilience over long time-series. Furthermore, scant attention has been given to the simultaneous incorporation of both structural and functional attributes in the selection of indicators for resilience assessment. In this study, taking Nanjing as an example, with a five-year interval, we determined the spatial scope of the ecological networks in 2000–2020, used two disturbance scenario simulation methods, probabilistic attack and deterministic attack, and finally optimized the ecological network with the goal of resilience enhancement. The results show that (1) the resilience index thresholds of the ecological networks decreased from 0.43 to 0.37, and the network resilience became progressively worse, but the decline in resilience index thresholds decreased in recent years. (2) The phenomenon of resurgent functional resilience increased, and ecological network redundancy increased. (3) In recent years, critical resilience nodes evinced a trend characterized by a diminishment of significance in the central region and a concomitant enhancement of importance in the southern domain. (4) The functional and structural optimization strategies increased the resilience index thresholds by 0.06 and 0.11, respectively. This study advances the refinement of methodologies and frameworks germane to the dynamic assessment of ecological network resilience, thereby furnishing instructive guidance for the fortification of urban ecosystem resilience and the promotion of sustainable urban governance.

Synergistic ecological network approach for sustainable development of highly urbanized area in the Bay Bottom region: A study in Chengyang District, Qingdao

Rapid urbanization has put the marine environment under great threat, and cities in the Bay Bottom area are more likely to cause a large number of ecological problems in urban development and construction due to their special land-sea interaction environment. Ecological network is an effective solution to coordinate regional ecological protection and sustainable urban development. This study focused on Chengyang District, one of the highly urbanized areas at the bottom of Jiaozhou Bay in Qingdao, China, was using Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) to initially identify ecological source areas and extracting important ecological source areas in conjunction with the landscape connectivity assessment, and was determining ecological resistance values based on the importance of ecosystem services, and was optimizing ecological network by the minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR) and network structure analysis. The results indicated that: (1) the habitat in Chengyang District is severely fragmented, and the ecological network structure has significant features in terms of source area, type and corridor distribution, with a low percentage of source area, identification of characteristic source types such as reservoirs, wetlands, and aquaculture ponds, while the corridors are concentrated in the area of rivers and bays, and there is fragmentation in the inland areas of the city. (2) Preliminarily, 15 ecological source sites were identified, mainly distributed in the vicinity of Jiaozhou Bay Wetland, Jihongtan Reservoir and Laoshan Mountain, among which, Jiaozhou Bay Wetland is the most important ecological source in Chengyang District. Thirty-two ecological nodes and 24 ecological corridors were constructed. (3) By increasing the inland ecological sources in Chengyang District, the optimized ecological network forms a spatial pattern of “four cores, three belts, and four districts”, and proposes and formulates targeted ecological protection and management strategies to promote the sustainable development of the urban areas in the bottom of the bay. In addition, this study provides a new reference for the global ecological protection of cities in the bay area by improving the ecological network of cities in the Bay Bottom area.

Integrating land-sea coordination into construction of an ecological security pattern for urban agglomeration: a case study in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The construction of ecological security pattern (ESP) is of great scientific significance for solving the problem of habitat fragmentation in urban environment. However, previous studies mainly focused on the ESP in land area, leaving the sea area to be ignored. This study took the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and its offshore area as an example and integrated the land-sea coordination into the construction of ESP based on the minimum resistance model, gravity model, and graph theory centrality. The results showed that there are 171 and 56 ecological sources for land area and offshore area, accounting for 31.46% and 21.51% of total area, respectively. Twenty-four important ecological corridors with a total length of 2738.05 km were identified in GBA, and the width is proposed to be less than 100 m. Moreover, the α, β, and γ index of the ecological network in the study area is 0.19, 1.33, and 0.5, respectively, indicating that the ecological network structure is complex and the connectivity between ecological nodes is good. The ecological restoration area includes 286.6 km2 of ecological pinch points and 140.44 km2 of ecological barrier. The overall ESP of the study area is "one ring, two belts, and four zones." The main body of the area with a superior ecological environment is distributed in a ring-like pattern near the outer edge of the study area, and two belts (important ecological corridor and ecological corridor) are distributed in a network. According to the ecological characteristics, the study area was divided into four zones: ecological preservation areas, ecological restoration areas, limited construction areas, and optimized construction areas. The ESP established herein institute provides a reference for the revision of ecological space control and optimization measures in the GBA. It also provides effective and systematic means to solve ecological problems in the current territorial spatial planning and territorial ecological restoration of coastal urban agglomeration.

Development of local eco-network of Lutsk territorial community: features and problems

Introduction. Planning of ecological networks at the local level is one of the most difficult stages of geospatial organization of the territory, which requires a detailed and balanced approach, thorough analysis of topographic materials, land management data and the use of geographic information technologies. Local-level eco-networks have a number of features related to the need for a high level of detalization and connectivity of their components. For them, specific model questions are formed about the assignment of certain areas to the structural and functional elements of the ecological network. At the same time, these elements are complementary elements in the structure of ecological networks of regional importance. The purpose of the article. The purpose of the study is to find out the conditions and specific features of the local eco-network of the Lutsk territorial community, to justify the allocation of its structural and functional elements, the current state of development and recommendations to ensure proper functioning. Methods. To study the features of the territorial organization of preserved areas of the urban community, in particular, as part of the nature reserve network and the Emerald network, substantiation of the boundaries of functional components of the local eco-network, elucidation of functional relationships between its elements, construction of cartographic models methods of field research, comparative geographical analysis, cartographic analysis, statistical analysis were used. Results. The natural conditions of the community, sources of economic impact and anthropogenic transformation of the environment, indicators of nature reserves, the level of naturalness of other areas: swamps, wetlands, water protection zones, forests, protective forest belts, reclaimed areas due to their obvious necessity inclusion in the local eco-network to ensure its functional integrity were analyzed. 13 natural nuclei, seven connecting elements, buffer zones potentially suitable for increasing the area of natural nuclei and ecological corridors of the territory of restoration and territory of natural development have been identified. The scientific novelty. The substantiation of structural and functional elements of the first local level eco-network in Volyn Region is made, the map of the local eco-network is developed, the problems of functioning are determined and the prospects of development are analyzed. Practical significance. The development of the local ecological network of the Lutsk town territorial community is a pilot project of the development of local ecological network of the territorial communities of the Volyn region.

Optimizing an Urban Green Space Ecological Network by Coupling Structural and Functional Connectivity: A Case for Biodiversity Conservation Planning

Strengthening and optimizing the spatial structure and functional connectivity of green space ecological networks can not only relieve the tight urban space and provide biodiversity protection but also promote the virtuous cycle of the urban ecosystem and provide a new method for the resilient development of the urban landscape. In this study, the central area of Chengdu was taken as the study area; Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) with landscape metrics were combined to determine the optimal distance threshold and identify the ecological sources. Graph theory and circuit theory were applied to construct and optimize the green space ecological network with structural or functional connectivity, respectively. Based on the coupling effect, the optimization of the ecological network was put forward, and the network analysis method was used to evaluate the connectivity of three different types of ecological networks. The results were as follows: (1) The ecological network with structural connectivity was composed of 74 stepping stones, 43 protective sources, and 315 ecological corridors. The connectivity of green space structures gradually decreased from west to east and from periphery to center. (2) In the optimal ecological network with functional connectivity, 176 important ecological corridors were protected, and 40 pinch points and 48 protective sources were identified. The number of important corridors in the east and south was the largest, and the network structure was relatively complex. The barriers were divided into three different levels of ecological restoration areas. (3) The green ecological network with structural and functional connectivity has the best network connectivity. A green space ring network optimization pattern of one center, two belts, multi-points, multi-corridors, and multi-zones connected in a series was proposed. It was suggested to build a multi-level forest ecosystem in Longquan Mountain, develop eco-fruit agriculture and eco-tourism, enrich the biodiversity of the ecological source, and improve its anti-interference ability to the external environment. It is also important to increase ecological strategic points and stepping stones to strengthen the links between different ecological restoration areas, properly handle the use of cultivated land in different regions, strictly observe the red line of cultivated land, and maintain the integrity and diversity of ecological sources. Therefore, the optimization method of the green space ecological network in this study provides technical support for the effective determination of ecological protection areas, the accurate implementation of green space ecological networks, and a scientific planning strategy for decision-makers.

Регіонально рідкісні види тварин Львівської області

Growing anthropogenic pressure and changing climate conditions create new reality in which more and more native fauna species require our attention. That is the reason for scientists to compile Red Lists or Red Data Books on different levels. The main factors of negative impact on animals nowadays are as follows: destruction and/or transformation of natural ecosystems (habitats), illegal removal from nature, commercial overuse, natural disasters and climate change, as well as military actions. The Red Data Book of Ukraine includes 140 species of animals which appear in Lviv region. However, there are also other species within the region that deserve protection. The latest Lviv region list of rare species was approved in 2007 – two years before the publication of the third edition of Red Data Book of Ukraine, and is somewhat outdated. For more than 15 years the animal habitats have changed, and the list of species in the new edition of the Red Data Book of Ukraine (2021) has changed significantly. According to this, a new list of regionally rare animal species is objectively needed. Such a list has been compiled and is presented in the article. The main species criteria for being included into it are: vulnerability to the environmental changes, a sharp decline in the number of individuals or rapid population area shrinkage, low occurrence frequency within the region, relic origin, endemic or sub-endemic status, species on the edge of their distribution ranges or with the complex life cycles, etc. We believe that our knowledge about regionally rare species and their distribution can be one of the reasons for the establishing of new protected areas. This will help to preserve rare ecosystems in the structure of national ecological network and strengthen the conservation of species and coenotic diversity both in some separate territories or regions, and in Ukraine as a whole. After additional, detailed scientific research some of the regionally rare animal species will obviously be recommended to be included into the next edition of the Red Data Book of Ukraine. Thus, at least 106 animal species are proposed to became regionally protected in Lviv region. 64 of them are already under the protection of Bern Convention, 26 – under Bonn Convention, and 13 under the protection of Washington Convention.

Analysis of regional resilience network from the perspective of relational and dynamic equilibrium

In the context of frequent crises and increasing levels of connectivity across areas, regional resilience networks have gained widespread attention as a novel form of organization and paradigm of regional resilience research. The majority of recent research examines the resilient structure of regional networks from a single static perspective, ignoring the related feature of regional resilience and its evolving reality. This study aims to propose a method for quantifying the strength of related resilience in the relational perspective as a rule for constructing multidimensional regional resilience networks. On this basis, the structure and node characteristics of the regional ecological, economic, and social resilience network are investigated from the dynamic equilibrium perspective by applying network analysis methods and node disruption simulation. The results show that, in terms of structure, the ecological resilience network has superior connectivity, is undergoing a transition toward a resilient structure, and performs moderately under deliberate attacks. The economic resilience network has the best resilient structure, and it has shown the greatest susceptibility to deliberate threats. Despite having the least resilient structure, the social resilience network has the highest level of robustness. The node characteristics investigation reveals the similarity between the significant nodes identified by the modified multivariate characteristic model and those with substantial impacts on network efficiency, as revealed by sequential attack simulation. Furthermore, optimization methodologies and policy suggestions are given following the characteristics of the networks. This study can provide scientific references for the planning and policy formulation of synergistic development of regional resilience.

Study on the relationship between ecological spatial network structure and regional carbon use Efficiency: A case study of the Wuding river basin

Plant carbon use efficiency (CUE) reflects the carbon assimilation ability and carbon sequestration potential of organisms, and is an important quantitative index in ecology. Therefore, investigating CUE can better understand and explore ecosystem carbon flux and carbon allocation patterns. In this paper, the Wuding River Basin is taken as the research area. MODIS were used to calculate CUE and explore its spatiotemporal variations. Using remote sensing environmental indicators (RSEI) extract ecological sources, and the MCR model were used to construct an ecological spatial network. By analogy with complex network theory, calculate topological indicators, and combine its ecological significance to investigate the relationship between CUE and these indicators, considering their ecological significance. The results are as follows: (1) The average CUE value slightly increased, with an overall increase in the southeastern part of the study area, minor changes in the southern parts, and an overall decrease in the western and northern parts of the basin. (2) CUE showed a strong positive correlation with closeness centrality, betweenness centrality, harmonic closeness centrality, and a negative correlation with eccentricity, while no significant correlation was found with component number.

Comparison of bacterial and fungal communities structure and dynamics during chicken manure and pig manure composting.

Composting is a sustainable and eco-friendly technology that turns animal waste into organic fertilizers. It remains unclear whether differences exist in the structure of microbial communities during different livestock manure composting. This study analyzed the dynamic change of bacterial and fungal communities, metabolic function, and trophic mode during chicken manure (CM) and pig manure (PM) composting based on 16S rRNA and ITS sequencing. Environmental factors were investigated for their impact on microbial communities. During composting, bacterial diversity decreased and then increased, while fungal diversity slightly increased and then decreased. Saccharomonospora and Aspergillus were the dominant genera and key microorganisms in CM and PM, respectively, which played crucial roles in sustaining the stability of the ecological network structure in the microbial ecology and participating in metabolism. Saccharomonospora gradually increased, while Aspergillus increased at first and then decreased. PM had better microbial community stability and more keystone taxa than CM. In CM and PM, the primary function of bacterial communities was metabolism, while saprotroph was the primary trophic mode of fungal communities. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was the primary factor influencing the structure and function of microbial communities in CM and PM. In addition to DOC, pH and moisture were important factors affecting the fungal communities in CM and PM, respectively. These results show that the succession of bacteria and fungi in CM and PM proceeded in a similar pattern, but there are still some differences in the dominant genus and their responses to environmental factors.

Provincial-Scale Research on the Eco-Security Structure in the Form of an Ecological Network of the Upper Yellow River: A Case Study of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region

Important for promoting the integrated protection and systematic management of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and sandy areas, ecological networks form the backbone of the regional ecological security pattern. An improved morphological spatial pattern analysis coupled with a minimum cumulative resistance model (MSPA–MCR) based on multi-source data was used to study, on a provincial scale, the ecological security pattern of Ningxia, an ecologically fragile region in the upper reaches of the Yellow River in China. The results show the following: (1) A reasonable classification of ecological sources and ecological corridors is key to constructing hierarchical ecological networks. Classifying ecological sources by replacing patch areas with energy factors and identifying the importance of ecological corridors by modifying the gravity model with the energy factors proposed in this paper could improve the rationality of the hierarchical structure division of ecological networks. (2) Grassland as the substrate vegetation type is an important ecological source type in arid and semi-arid ecologically fragile areas, and forests and lake wetlands are the main ecological source types in mountainous areas and oasis areas, respectively. The study area was located in the arid–semi-arid transitional area, with a variety of ecological types, such as mountain, oasis, and desert. Therefore, the complex ecological source types of forest–grassland–wetland appear in some areas. (3) There are 45 ecological patch groups that can be classified as ecological sources in Ningxia, including 10 primary source groups. The number of primary source groups is small, and their spatial distribution is unbalanced. There are two categories of ecological corridors, the river corridor and the mountain corridor, and the network connectivity is poor. (4) The ecological network structure of Ningxia is presented as an ecological security structure consisting of one belt, three screens, three corridors, and five clusters, forming a hierarchical nested ecological network security structure system.

NetworkExtinction: An R package to simulate extinction propagation and rewiring potential in ecological networks

Abstract Earth's biosphere is undergoing drastic reorganization due to the sixth mass extinction brought on by the Anthropocene. Impacts of local and regional extirpation of species have been demonstrated to propagate through the complex interaction networks they are part of, leading to secondary extinctions and exacerbating biodiversity loss. Contemporary ecological theory has developed several measures to analyse the structure and robustness of ecological networks under biodiversity loss. However, a toolbox for directly simulating and quantifying extinction cascades and creating novel interactions (i.e. rewiring) remains absent. Here, we present NetworkExtinction—a novel R package which we have developed to explore the propagation of species extinction sequences through ecological networks and quantify the effects of rewiring potential in response to primary species extinctions. With NetworkExtinction, we integrate ecological theory and computational simulations to develop functionality with which users may analyse and visualize the structure and robustness of ecological networks. The core functions introduced with NetworkExtinction focus on simulations of sequential primary extinctions and associated secondary extinctions, allowing user‐specified secondary extinction thresholds and realization of rewiring potential. With the package NetworkExtinction, users can estimate the robustness of ecological networks after performing species extinction routines based on several algorithms. Moreover, users can compare the number of simulated secondary extinctions against a null model of random extinctions. In‐built visualizations enable graphing topological indices calculated by the deletion sequence functions after each simulation step. Finally, the user can estimate the network's degree distribution by fitting different common distributions. Here, we illustrate the use of the package and its outputs by analysing a Chilean coastal marine food web. NetworkExtinction is a compact and easy‐to‐use R package with which users can quantify changes in ecological network structure in response to different patterns of species loss, thresholds and rewiring potential. Therefore, this package is particularly useful for evaluating ecosystem responses to anthropogenic and environmental perturbations that produce nonrandom and sometimes targeted, species extinctions.

Methodology for Mapping the Ecological Security Pattern and Ecological Network in the Arid Region of Xinjiang, China

Xinjiang is an important arid region in the northwest of China and plays an important role in the field of ecological security protection in China. Because of its aridity, the identification of critical areas for ecological protection and the optimization of ecological space structure in Xinjiang are of great significance for promoting the harmonious development of the oasis economy, enhancing the ecological environment, and improving human well-being. This study applied an ecological security evaluation from the three dimensions of habitat quality, ecosystem service value, and soil-water conservation to identify the basic situation of the ecological security pattern. The core “source” area of ecological protection was extracted using the morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) method, while the ecological corridor and important ecological nodes were identified using the minimum cumulative resistance model (MCR). The “point-line-plane” three-dimensional ecological network structure was then constructed, providing a case for the development of the ecological security and construction in the oasis. The results showed that in the arid regions of Xinjiang, the ecological land is extremely fragmented and is mainly distributed in the mountains and waters distant from human activities. Overall, there is a substantial geographical disparity with a low level of ecological security, particularly in the ecological marginal areas. The ecological network framework of Xinjiang is characterized by an uneven distribution of “sources”, broken corridor structure, and a low degree of networking. Therefore, this study proposed an ecological space layout system consisting of “7 ecological subsystems, 51 source areas, 87 ecological corridors, and 33 ecological nodes” by combining the regional physical and geographical characteristics with the overall development plan.

Ecological network identification and connectivity robustness evaluation in the Yellow River Basin under a multi-scenario simulation

The deterioration of the environment has been aggravated by the rapid growth of cities and economies, and inter-regional political, economic, scientific, and technological frictions caused by ecological problems are increasing. To safeguard the ecological environment and design healthy urban development, it is crucial to assess the structure and quality of ecological networks (ENs), which serve as links between landscape structure and ecological processes. This paper simulates land use in 2035 under three development scenarios for the Yellow River Basin (YRB), identifying ENs, and assessing the robustness of network connectivity for each scenario. We found that in the ecological protection scenario (ES), forest and water Land expanded the most, increasing by 4.16% and 6.98%, respectively. The ES also produced the most ecological patches (53) and important ecological corridors (141), with the important corridors forming an east–west spatial pattern. In the baseline scenario (BS), important corridors formed a north–south pattern, and in the urban development scenario (US), the important corridors were characterised by small-scale aggregation. The initial connectivity robustness of ENs was 0.5, 0.46, and 0.45 in the ES, BS, and US, respectively. Whether using deliberate or random attack models, the robustness of network connectivity was strongest in the ES. This study provides a theoretical reference for the future planning of eco-friendly development and ecological security patterns in the YRB.

Molecular Ecological Network Structure and Potential Function of the Bacterial Community in the Soil Profile under Indigenous Tree Plantations in Subtropical China

The soil profile is a strong and complex physicochemical gradient that greatly affects bacterial community structure and function between soil layers. However, little is known about molecular ecological network structure and bacterial community function under differing soil profiles in planted forests. Four typical native tree species (Pinus massoniana Lamb., Castanopsis hystrix Miq., Mytilaria laosensis Lec., and Michelia macclurei Dandy) plantations were selected from subtropical China as the research object. We evaluated molecular ecological network structure as well as potential function of the soil bacterial community at different soil depths (0–20, 20–40, and 40–60 cm) within native tree plantations. Our results showed that (1) compared to the topsoil (0–20 cm), the bacterial molecular ecological network scale increased within the middle layer (20–40 cm) and the subsoil (40–60 cm), and the interaction between species was stronger; (2) module hubs and connectors were the key bacterial groups in each soil layer and increased with increasing soil depth; (3) the dominant functional groups of the bacterial communities in each soil layer were chemoheterotrophy, aerobic chemoheterotrophy, cellulolysis, ureolysis, nitrogen fixation, and nitrate reduction, and they were related to soil carbon and nitrogen cycling; and (4) the different molecular ecological network structures along with relative bacterial functional group abundances among diverse soil layers were mainly affected by soil organic carbon (SOC), NO3−-N, NH4+-N, available phosphorus (AP), and total phosphorus (TP). Our study provides a theoretical foundation for bacterial community structure together with function within soil profiles of native tree plantations in subtropical regions.

Ecology: How mesopredators run with the big dogs

Food webs are indispensable maps of community organization, but most are crudely drawn- an inconvenient truth that ecologists must confront. A new DNA metabarcoding study quantifies predator-prey interactions and ecological-network structure with long-overdue precision, supplying insight into how large and small carnivores coexist.