TY - JOUR UR - https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.50v4 DO - 10.7287/peerj.preprints.50v4 TI - When is an ecological network complex? Connectance drives degree distribution and emerging network properties AU - Poisot,Timothée AU - Gravel,Dominique DA - 2013/12/23 PY - 2013 KW - ecological networks KW - food webs KW - network theory KW - connectance KW - power-law KW - degree distribution KW - niche model KW - null models AB - Connectance and degree distributions are important components of the structure of ecological networks. In this contribution, we use a statistical argument and simple network generating models to show that properties of the degree distribution are driven by network connectance. We discuss the consequences of this finding for (1) the generation of random networks in null-model analyses, and (2) the interpretation of network structure and ecosystem properties in relationship with degree distribution. VL - 1 SP - e50v4 T2 - PeerJ PrePrints JO - PeerJ PrePrints J2 - PeerJ PrePrints SN - 2167-9843 ER -