Sagar Adhurya , Nisha Agasti, Young-seuk Park

Understanding the dynamics of ecological interactions is an essential initial step in acquiring a comprehensive understanding of the ecosystem structure and functions. Such knowledge is pivotal in effective conservation planning, sustainable development, and ecosystem management. However, the limited availability of information on ecological interactions, commonly referred to as Eltonian shortfalls, presents a significant challenge in moving beyond taxonomic diversity.
The concept of a metaweb, which encompasses all species and their interactions in a specific region, has greatly contributed to our understanding of macroecology. This helps bridge the gap between static ecological networks and the dynamic nature of real ecosystems. Therefore, we aimed to comprehensively review various approaches to constructing metawebs and analyze both the metaweb and its constituent local webs.
Metawebs can be improved through link prediction to overcome the issue of data availability for ecological interactions. Different predictive approaches for ecological interactions can be categorized based on the data requirements. Some methods rely solely on existing databases and predict links based on observed interaction patterns within the web. Other methods incorporate additional information about the nodes, such as phylogenetic or trait data, to predict the links. While predicting interactions, it is crucial to ensure the model’s performance and validate the predicted links.
The metaweb helps develop a local web according to the available information on local biodiversity at different spatiotemporal scales. This allowed us to study the structural properties of local webs and their dynamics at the spatiotemporal scale with minimum data requirements. This knowledge is essential for obtaining insights into how ecological interactions change in response to various factors such as climate and habitat changes. Furthermore, with increasing data availability, it may be possible to integrate biomass, abundance, and energy flow to explore the functional aspects of ecosystems.
Our review highlights the existing metawebs and suggests future research directions. Harnessing the power of the metaweb enhances our understanding of ecological communities and their responses to various drivers.