Inference of ecological interaction networks

TL;DR

This paper adapts a biochemical network inference method to ecological data, enabling the reconstruction of organism interaction networks from observational data, demonstrated on rice field invertebrates.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of biochemical network inference techniques to ecological interaction networks, bridging methods across disciplines.

Findings

Successfully inferred ecological interaction networks from observational data.

Applied the method to a rice field invertebrate network.

Demonstrated the method's potential for ecological studies.

Abstract

The inference of the interactions between organisms in an ecosystem from observational data is an important problem in ecology. This paper presents a mathematical inference method, originally developed for the inference of biochemical networks in molecular biology, adapted for the inference of networks of ecological interactions. The method is applied to a network of invertebrate families (taxa) in a rice field.