Temporal dynamics and network analysis

Benjamin Blonder, Tina W. Wey, Anna Dornhaus, Richard James, Andrew Sih

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

189 Scopus citations

Abstract

1. Network analysis is widely used in diverse fields and can be a powerful framework for studying the structure of biological systems. Temporal dynamics are a key issue for many ecological and evolutionary questions. These dynamics include both changes in network topology and flow on the network. Network analyses that ignore or do not adequately account for the temporal dynamics can result in inappropriate inferences. 2. We suggest that existing methods are currently under-utilized in many ecological and evolutionary network analyses and that the broader incorporation of these methods will considerably advance the current field. Our goal is to introduce ecologists and evolutionary biologists interested in studying network dynamics to extant ideas and methodological approaches, at a level appropriate for those new to the field. 3. We present an overview of time-ordered networks, which provide a framework for analysing network dynamics that addresses multiple inferential issues and permits novel types of temporally informed network analyses. We review available methods and software, discuss the utility and considerations of different approaches, provide a worked example analysis and highlight new research opportunities in ecology and evolutionary biology. Blog

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)958-972
Number of pages15
JournalMethods in Ecology and Evolution
Volume3
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2012

Keywords

  • Dynamics
  • Flow
  • Graph theory
  • Network
  • Time aggregated
  • Time ordered
  • Time-scale

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Ecological Modeling

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