Co‐occurrence is not evidence of ecological interactions

• Published in: Ecology letters Vol. 23; no. 7; pp. 1050 - 1063
• Main Authors: Blanchet, F. Guillaume, Cazelles, Kevin, Gravel, Dominique, Jeffers, Elizabeth
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.07.2020
• Subjects: Coexistence; Co‐occurrence analysis; co‐occurrence networks; Diamonds; ecological interactions; Food chains; Food webs; Geographical distribution; Information processing; observational studies; presence–absence data; probability; Statistical analysis; statistical inference; Co-occurrence analysis; statistical inference; ecological interactions; presence-absence data; co-occurrence networks

There is a rich amount of information in co‐occurrence (presence–absence) data that could be used to understand community assembly. This proposition first envisioned by Forbes (1907) and then Diamond (1975) prompted the development of numerous modelling approaches (e.g. null model analysis, co‐occur...