Open Accessmangal – making ecological network analysis simple
Author(s) -
Poisot Timothée,
Baiser Benjamin,
Dunne Jennifer A.,
Kéfi Sonia,
Massol François,
Mouquet Nicolas,
Romanuk Tamara N.,
Stouffer Daniel B.,
Wood Spencer A.,
Gravel Dominique
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
ecography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.973
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1600-0587
pISSN - 0906-7590
DOI - 10.1111/ecog.00976
Subject(s) - ecological network , computer science , ecology , process (computing) , simple (philosophy) , data science , biology , ecosystem , philosophy , epistemology , operating system
The study of ecological networks is severely limited by 1) the difficulty to access data, 2) the lack of a standardized way to link meta‐data with interactions, and 3) the disparity of formats in which ecological networks themselves are stored and represented. To overcome these limitations, we have designed a data specification for ecological networks. We implemented a database respecting this standard, and released an R package (rmangal) allowing users to programmatically access, curate, and deposit data on ecological interactions. In this article, we show how these tools, in conjunction with other frameworks for the programmatic manipulation of open ecological data, streamlines the analysis process and improves replicability and reproducibility of ecological network studies.