Quantifying resource homogenization using network flow analysis

This paper formally introduces the rheomode orientation to network flow analysis and provides a quantitative test for the ecological property of network homogenization. Using network flow analysis, it is possible to identify and quantify the direct, indirect, and integral contributions of flow between any two components in a reticulated system. Inspection of the integral (direct plus indirect) flow matrix reveals many interesting properties not obvious from an empirical investigation of proximate transactions. Using network flow analysis, we observe that the composition of direct flows is comprised of a fairly uniform mixture of resources from all the system components. We call this evening out of flow network homogenization (Patten, B.C., Higashi, M., Burns, T.P., 1990. Ecol. Model. 51, 1–28). Here we introduce a standard statistical technique to provide a quantitative test for network homogenization. This property is the direct result of a flow oriented analysis of ecological systems. This has broader implications for the standard trophic dynamics paradigm currently dominating ecological research. The central results from this approach indicate that networks are holistic entities which must be analyzed as such.