Deciphering the Interdependence between Ecological and Evolutionary Networks

Biological systems consist of elements that interact within and across hierarchical levels. For example, interactions among genes determine traits of individuals, competitive and cooperative interactions among individuals influence population dynamics, and interactions among species affect the dynamics of communities and ecosystem processes. Such systems can be represented as hierarchical networks, but can have complex dynamics when interdependencies among levels of the hierarchy occur. We propose integrating ecological and evolutionary processes in hierarchical networks to explore interdependencies in biological systems. We connect gene networks underlying predator–prey trait distributions to food webs. Our approach addresses longstanding questions about how complex traits and intraspecific trait variation affect the interdependencies among biological levels and the stability of meta-ecosystems.C.J.M. was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF; project 31003A-144162). C.S.A. was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnológico (CNPq/Brazil). J.P.R. was supported by the Formación de Profesorado Universitario (FPU) program of Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte (Spain), and partially supported by Obra Social la Caixa. L.J.H. was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (DEB-1208912).Peer reviewe