The robustness index-importance index plane for the Cypress dry season food web (IMAGE)
Caption
Each dot on the graph represents a species. The color and shape of each dot show what type of species it is (like producers, invertebrates, or predators), and the size of the dot shows how much living material (biomass) that species has in the ecosystem.
The dots are not spread out randomly—they tend to form groups based on the classification:
- Producers and organic matter (dark green circles) are in the top left corner. They provide food (carbon) to many others, but they eat almost nothing themselves, so they’re very important but not predators.
- Large predators, like alligators and bears, are in the bottom right corner. They eat many other species but aren’t eaten themselves.
- Terrestrial invertebrates/decomposers are in the top right corner. They both eat many different things and are also food for many others, making them highly connected in the food web.
- The bottom left corner mostly has herbivores and smaller predators like lizards. These species are not central in the food chain functioning, being hard to prey on, but with little to none preying capabilities.
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Complexity Science Hub
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