NDLI: Isotopic Diversity Indices: How Sensitive to Food Web Structure?

Content Provider	PubMed Central
Author	Anik, Brind'amour Dubois, Stanislas F.
Editor	Pond, David William
Copyright Year	2013
Abstract	Recently revisited, the concept of niche ecology has lead to the formalisation of functional and trophic niches using stable isotope ratios. Isotopic diversity indices (IDI) derived from a set of measures assessing the dispersion/distribution of points in the δ-space were recently suggested and increasingly used in the literature. However, three main critics emerge from the use of these IDI: 1) they fail to account for the isotopic sources overlap, 2) some indices are highly sensitive to the number of species and/or the presence of rare species, and 3) the lack of standardization prevents any spatial and temporal comparisons. Using simulations we investigated the ability of six commonly used IDI to discriminate among different trophic food web structures, with a focus on the first two critics. We tested the sensitivity of the IDI to five food web structures along a gradient of sources overlap, varying from two distinct food chains with differentiated sources to two superimposed food chains sharing two sources. For each of the food web structure we varied the number of species (from 10 to 100 species) and the type of species feeding behaviour (i.e. random or selective feeding). Values of IDI were generally larger in food webs with distinct basal sources and tended to decrease as the superimposition of the food chains increased. This was more pronounced when species displayed food preferences in comparison to food webs where species fed randomly on any prey. The number of species composing the food web also had strong effects on the metrics, including those that were supposedly less sensitive to small sample size. In all cases, computing IDI on food webs with low numbers of species always increases the uncertainty of the metrics. A threshold of ∼20 species was detected above which several metrics can be safely used.
Related Links	http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0084198
Starting Page	84198
File Format	PDF
ISSN	19326203
e-ISSN	19326203
Journal	PLoS ONE
Issue Number	12
Volume Number	8
Language	English
Publisher	Public Library of Science
Publisher Date	2013-12-01
Access Restriction	Open
Rights Holder	Public Library of Science
Subject Keyword	Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all) Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all) Medicine(all) Research in Higher Education
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Multidisciplinary

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

Host Centrality in Food Web Networks Determines Parasite Diversity

Predator Diversity Effects in an Exotic Freshwater Food Web

Eelgrass (Zostera marina) Food Web Structure in Different Environmental Settings

Do Food Web Models Reproduce the Structure of Mutualistic Networks?

Guano-Derived Nutrient Subsidies Drive Food Web Structure in Coastal Ponds

Food-Web Structure in Relation to Environmental Gradients and Predator-Prey Ratios in Tank-Bromeliad Ecosystems

Biodiversity Patterns along Ecological Gradients: Unifying β-Diversity Indices

Genetic variation, predator–prey interactions and food web structure

Parasites reduce food web robustness because they are sensitive to secondary extinction as illustrated by an invasive estuarine snail

Isotopic Diversity Indices: How Sensitive to Food Web Structure?

Similar Documents

Host Centrality in Food Web Networks Determines Parasite Diversity

Predator Diversity Effects in an Exotic Freshwater Food Web

Eelgrass (Zostera marina) Food Web Structure in Different Environmental Settings

Do Food Web Models Reproduce the Structure of Mutualistic Networks?

Guano-Derived Nutrient Subsidies Drive Food Web Structure in Coastal Ponds

Food-Web Structure in Relation to Environmental Gradients and Predator-Prey Ratios in Tank-Bromeliad Ecosystems

Biodiversity Patterns along Ecological Gradients: Unifying β-Diversity Indices

Genetic variation, predator–prey interactions and food web structure

Parasites reduce food web robustness because they are sensitive to secondary extinction as illustrated by an invasive estuarine snail

Isotopic Diversity Indices: How Sensitive to Food Web Structure?