Social Network Analysis of a Grassland Rodent Community Using a Lotka-Volterra Modeling Approach

TL;DR

This study introduces a new methodology combining social network analysis with Lotka-Volterra models to analyze long-term wildlife community dynamics using less detailed data.

Contribution

It develops a novel approach that reduces data requirements for social network analysis of wildlife communities by integrating Lotka-Volterra models.

Findings

Quantified changes in interaction strength and type over 30 years.

Detected shifts from cooperative to competitive behaviors.

Provided insights into long-term community dynamics.

Abstract

Although social network analysis is a promising tool to study the structure and dynamics of wildlife communities, the current methods require costly and detailed network data, which often are not available over long time periods (e.g. decades). The present work aims to resolve this issue by developing a new methodology that requires much less detailed data and it relies on well-established Lotka-Volterra models. Using the long-term abundance data (1973-2003) of northeastern Kansas rodents, the changes in the magnitude and direction of interactions (e.g., changes from cooperative behavior to competitive behavior or changes in the magnitude of competition) are quantified.