A hierarchy of networks spanning from individual organisms to ecological landscapes

Abstract

Living systems are hierarchically organised. A number of components are linked by the multiplicity of interactions at each level (from organisms to species to ecosystems). This kind of compositional and hierarchical complexity is a computational and conceptual challenge. We need new approaches to determine the key components of large interaction networks and we need to better understand how they influence the system dynamics horizontally (at the same level) and vertically (between organisational levels). We provide examples for various interaction networks (animal social group, food web, landscape) and discuss how to dynamically link them. © 2010 Springer-Verlag London Limited.